The SPIRIT in SPIRITual Gifts

The SPIRIT in SPIRITual Gifts
Text: 1 Cor.12:1-11


Sermon statement (big idea)

The Holy Spirit is builder of the church. He is the giver of spiritual gifts and he gives them to whom he chooses. The spiritual gifts are for the building up of the church and not for personal gain. Most teaching on spiritual gifts place more emphasis on the spiritual gifts rather than the giver. We must not miss the SPIRIT in SPIRITual gifts.

Text (1 Corinthians 12:1-11)

1CO 12:1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

1CO 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

1CO 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to 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. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Introduction

The World Soccer Cup is becoming exciting as the various teams via for supremacy and to enter into the finals in 2008. Arsenal currently leads Manchester United in the United Kingdom division. The other divisions are Italy, Germany and Spain.

Football or soccer is a game with 11 players on each side (including the goalkeeper). The idea is to score as many goals as possible within two halves of 45 minutes each of play. Different players have different positions. Basically they can be divided into goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forward/strikers.

Defenders or backs play behind the midfielders and their primary responsibility is to provide support to the goalkeeper, and to prevent the opposition from scoring a goal. They usually remain in the half of the field that contains the goal they are defending.

Midfielders are players whose position of play is midway between the attacking strikers and the defenders. Their main duties are to maintain possession of the ball, taking the ball from defenders and feeding it to the strikers, as well as taking the ball from opposing players.

Strikers or forwards are the players on a team in the row nearest to the opposing team's goal (note: the term attacker is also sometimes used to describe strikers/forwards but is now more commonly used to describe any player on the team currently in possession of the ball). The primary responsibility of strikers/forwards is to score goals.

Basically a good team depends on team work and the individual player’s football skills. A goalkeeper’s skill is different from a striker’s skills. Because the strikers score more goals than other players, forwards are often among the best-known and most expensive players on their teams. Yet in the team, not everybody can be a striker. You will get confusion when that happens.

Football skills are like spiritual gifts. Each spiritual gift is for a specific position or function in the church. Confusion will occurs if everyone wants to be prominent or a ‘striker.’ That’s what happens in the church in Corinth. In the area of spiritual gifts, there were selfishness and disunity (12:7, 25; 14:4) and apparent chaos in the assembly (14:23, 33, 40). Paul dealt with the problem by describing the nature and purpose of gifts (12:1-30), the superiority of love (12:31-13:13), and the regulating of the exercise of gifts by love (chap. 14). As in other areas, so in using gifts in the church, believers should promote the glory of God and the good of others instead of self-satisfaction.


Exposition

1. The Spirit and false teachings (12:1-3)
v.1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
v.2 You know that when you were pagans,
somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
v.3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God
says, "Jesus be cursed," and
no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," [The Greek word for “Lord” here is used in the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint) to translate the Hebrew name Yahweh (“the LORD”)].
except by the Holy Spirit.

Paul apparently believed that some of the Corinthians’ problems were due not entirely to their worldly attitudes (3:3) but also to the presence of false teachers who preyed on their spiritual immaturity and exacerbated the problems. The pagan background out of which many had come did not help them ascertain the presence of false prophets. When they were pagans, they had been influenced and led astray to dumb idols (12:2). Certainly lifeless idols are totally helpless in such matters!

Paul therefore laid down a simple test related to the person of Christ. The false teachers obviously claimed that their visions, revelations, and messages were from God, but they apparently denied the humanity of Christ, as expressed by the words Jesus be cursed. This may have been a factor in the Corinthians’ aversion to Paul’s “message of the Cross” (1 Cor. 1:10-4:13). It may be surprising today to realize that the earliest Christological heresy (Docetism) denied Jesus’ humanity, not His deity.


Holy Spirit ------à Jesus is Lord/Yahweh


2. The Spiritual Gifts and the Trinity (12:4-6)
v.4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. [Gifts of grace produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit].
v.5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. [The Greek word in its various forms is used to indicate service to the Christian community, such as serving tables (Ac 6:2–3); it is also the word used in the early church for the office of deacon (Phil 1:1)].
v.6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God [The Greek word indicates power in operation that produces obvious results].
works all of them in all men.

Spirit/Lord/God

many spiritual gifts -----à service ----àworking/power


3. The Spirit in Spiritual Gifts (12:7-11)
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
To one there is given through the Spirit
the message of wisdom,
to another the message of knowledge
by means of the same Spirit,
to another faith
by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing
by that one Spirit,
to 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.
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,
and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

(1) Message of wisdom
A Word refers to "a supernaturally imparted fragment," while wisdom, which generally means prudence, decision making.

(2) Message of knowledge
A supernaturally inspired utterance of facts.

(3) Faith
A supernatural impartation of assurance in God.

(4) Gifts of healing
Supernaturally ministering health to the sick.

(5) Miraculous powers
A supernatural intervention of natural laws. The Greek describes it as "works of power" and implies instantaneous results.

(6) Prophecy
A supernaturally inspired utterance from God. A genuine prophetic utterance never contradicts, neither is equal to, the written Word of God. To forthtell or foretell. To speak from the mind of God. Prophecies are to be judged (1 Cor. 14:29, 1 Thes. 5:20-21).

(7) Distinguishing between spirits
This is a supernatural ability to discern a person's spiritual character and the source of his actions and messages, such as from the Holy Spirit, demon spirits, the human spirit or from the flesh.

(8) Different kinds of tongues
A supernaturally imparted utterance in an unlearned language which is interpreted as a prophecy to the body for their edification. (This is distinguished from "praying" in tongues, which is intended to edify one's own spirit -- 1 Cor. 14:14.) A message in tongues to the body is always to be interpreted (by another gift), and is limited to three within a gathering (1 Cor. 14:27).

(9) Interpretation of tongues
This is the supernatural interpretation of a message in tongues into the understandable language of the hearers. It is not a "translation" but an interpretation.

This list is not comprehensive. Other gifts are given in 1 Corinthians 12:28-31; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11

Diagram: Four groupings of spiritual gifts[1]

Diversity and unity of spiritual gifts
Giver of spiritual gifts: The Holy Spirit
Aim of spiritual gifts: common good
Distributors of spiritual gifts: gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Lessons for us

(1) The Holy Spirit is the builder of the Church
(2) The Church is the body of Christ which to carry out the mission of God, the Father
(3) Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit (He decides who gets what)
(4) Spiritual gifts are to be used to build the church
(5) All spiritual gifts have the same status
(6) Spiritual gifts are different from Fruit of the Spirit

There is a difference between spiritual gifts and fruit. Gifts are the Spirit's manifestation through a person, but fruit is the product of one's spiritual character. Spirituality cannot be measured by gifts, but by fruit (Gal. 5:22-24). Love is the predominate feature of spirituality (1 Cor. 13:13), without which, charismatic gifts cannot function effectively (1 Cor. 13:1-2). Paul expressed that the church should have a desire for spiritual gifts, but it should follow the foremost pursuit of love. "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts," (1 Cor. 14:1).

(7) What is your spiritual gift?
a. Ask the Holy Spirit
b. What is your passion?
c. What do you do well?
d. What produces lasting fruits?

Recommended reading: Wagner, Peter.1979. Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow. Ventura, CA: Regal. Lists 27 different types of gifts. Also includes a Spiritual Gifts Questionaire.

Websites offering online spiritual gifts questionnaires
http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1 (Church Growth Institute)
http://www.elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test/ (Elmer Towns’ Questionaires)
http://www.elca.org/evangelism/assessments/spiritgifts.html (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is builder of the church. He is the giver of spiritual gifts and he gives them to whom he chooses. The spiritual gifts are for the building up of the church and not for personal gain. Most teaching on spiritual gifts place more emphasis on the spiritual gifts rather than the giver. We must not miss the SPIRIT in SPIRITual gifts.

soli deo gloria

[1] House, H. Wayne.1992. Charts of Christian Theology & Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. P.70