The Gifts Of The Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
November 21st 2004
Toongabbie Baptist Church
AM Servcie
1. Intro
We are 5 weeks out from Christmas – that great flurry of gift giving. Amongst other things – giving and receiving gifts is a big part of what Christmas is – whether it be just the gift of being with people who you do not always see as often as you would like – to expensive consumption type gifts.
I want you to think back over the gifts you have been given – the physical gifts that other people have given you. I want you to think about the best gifts that you have been given and what made those gifts so worthwhile.
In fact I don’t just want you to think – I want you to talk about it with the people around you – so turn around, huddle in your pew – say hi and introduce yourself and talk about the best gifts that you have been given by other people and what made those gifts so worthwhile.
<discussion time>
<vox pop>
Well I rekon what all that has in common is that the best gifts are the ones we find most useful – and that really a gift takes on value when it is being used – otherwise it is worthless.
Let’s take a look 1 Corinthians and see what it has to tell us about the Gifts of The Holy Spirit
2. What are The Gifts Of The Spirit
So, what are the gifts of the Holy Spirit – when the words Spiritual Gift appears it is usually a translation of the word charismata – which literally means gifts from grace – so that these are the things that God was given us as an expression of His grace or from out of the grace that God has shown us in giving us his Holy Spirit.
There are 4 places where lists of Spiritual Gifts are given. 1 Cor 12:8-10 is one of the bigger lists of Gifts and the only one that is explicitly designated as being given by the Spirit.
In this passage we have the following Gifts Of The Spirit ….
But this is not the only place spiritual gifts are referred to there are other list of the charismata, for instance, further on in 1 Cor 12 in 28-30 we have this list:
And in Romans 12:6-8
And finally Ephesians 4:11
Quite a little shopping list isn’t it.
I was going to give a bit of a wrap up of what each gift means – but in the end decided that wasn’t where I felt God wanted me to go this morning – I even thought that I would get us all to do one of the different surveys that help you get an idea of where it was the God may have gifted you.
But those things will come later on next year as a part of the 40 Days of Purpose where you will have many opportunities to seek God and the things he wants you to be doing. So when the opportunity presents itself make sure you take it up – to get in and find out what it is that God may have gifted you for – or to confirm what God has gifted you for – or even just to encourage others to be involved and activity seeking what it is that God has gifted them in.
So yes – there is a large list of Gifts – and when I was a young Christian and heard about them I was a bit like a kid in a candy store – do I pick from them then place a prayer request and God dishes them up?? Does he give me one gift or many or none??
How, then, do we get these gifts?
3. How do we get the Gifts of The Spirit?
Firstly they all come from the Holy Spirit as he dwells within us – 1 Cor 12:4-6
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all
men.
In fact everything we are comes from the triune God - with gifts specifically from the Spirit.
Secondly they are given to each of us – as God sees fit – 1 Cor 12:11
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Which gifts we have are determined by God – it is not us deciding to have a certain gift but rather the gift is there and we need to set about living life as if we have a gift and finding out what that gift is and putting it to use.
Thirdly it is ok to desire them – 1 cor 14:1 – Paul says
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
Have you ever eagerly desired spiritual gifts? Have you longed to see God using you in a special way a way that can only happen because you have the Holy Spirit within? When was the last time that we have sat down and talked to God about a spiritual gift we would like to see in ourselves or in our church – eagerly desiring it to serve God in some special way?
Fourthly everyone has a gift of some kind –1 cor 12:7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good
“To each one” so there is not a special kind of super Christian – no, each one of us is been given a gift or gifts for the good of all.
And finally – not everyone has the same gift and nobody has all the gifts – 1 cor 12:27-30
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
What I find interesting in these passages – what I find encouraging is that there is no age limit – it does not say young people or old people – Paul is just writing to Christians telling us about the Gift of the Spirit that we do have – so you don’t have to wait to exercise your gift when you are older – and you don’t ever have to stop exercising your gift, we will never stop being useful for God, because each one of us have been given gifts of the spirit. Certainly the way we carry out our gifting will change but we will never stop being of use to God.
I rekon that is pretty exciting to know.
So we have some idea of what the gifts are – we know where they come from – the big question is why were they given? When God chooses to give us a gift or a few gifts why does He do this?
5. What is the purpose of The Gifts of The Spirit?
1 cor 12:7 tells us -
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good
And again 1 Cor 12:18-20
But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
So we have been given one or more Gifts of The Spirit from God as he determines to be used for the people around us – as we are a part of the body we can not go off and do our own thing but instead we rely upon one another within the body to make the body function.
Our Spiritual Gift is not to be used just to make our life easier, or to make us feel close to God, or to be able to show off to the other Christians around us, and certainly not to define our Christianity by, no the Gifts are given to serve one another, to build each other up – for the common good.
Once again Paul assumes that we will be using our gifts – we will know what it is that God has gifted us in and we will be out there putting the gifts of the spirit to good use – we will be finding and making and taking opportunities to use the gifts God has given. We will be doing what we can to grow and develop our gifts, we will building one another up as we each use our gifts.
I want to tell you a story – it’s about a very rich man who was going away on a round the world trip.
Well this guy was an investment guru and so while he was going to be away he split up the money he had been planning to invest and gave it to three of his most trusted employees while he was away – to one he gave 500 million dollars to another he gave 200 million dollars and to the third he gave 100 millions dollars – each according to their ability. And he set off on his round the world tour.
The man who had been given 500 million dollars went right out and got to work investing and using the money and earned 500 million dollars more. The guy with 200 million set out and did the same thing – making 200 million dollars.
The man who had been given 100 million took the money and locked it away in a safe and buried the safe deep under ground out in the country.
The rich man was gone for a long time, when he finally returned to his company he called the three men before him to find out what had happened with his money while he was away.
The man who had been given 500 million dollars came up to his boss and said “You gave me 500 million and look here is the 500 and another 500 million I have earned for you!”
The man’s boss replied – “well done, you have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in my happiness.”
The man who had been given 200 million dollars came up to his boss and said “You gave me 200 million and look here is the 200 and another 200 million I have earned for you!”
The man’s boss replied – “well done, you have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in my happiness.”
Then the man who had been given 100 million dollars came before his boss and, still wiping the dirt from this trousers, said “Boss, I knew you were a hard man, taking from profits from companies you never invested in, not paying tax on all the money that you earn and so, being afraid, I took the 100 million dollars and buried in a safe out in the country. So here it is, here is what belongs to you.”
The boss replied “You wicked and lazy man. So you knew that I took from profits from companies I had never invested in, and did not pay tax on all the money that I earned? Well then, you should have put my money in a Swiss bank account so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. I will take the 100 million dollars away from you and give it to the one who had 500 million dollars and I will sack you from my company and leave you penniless and with out a job and no one in this town will ever employ you again.”
Just like each of the three men we have been given an amount – a gift or
gifts of the spirit.
Just like each of the three men the amount is of no use if it is not used.
Just like each of the three men we will be held accountable for what we have or
have not done with the things we are given.
Just like the three men – if we use the things God has given us for him, multiplying
his kingdom then we will be welcomed in – called good and faithful servants
and given a share in the masters happiness. And if we do not then the little we
have will be taken off us and we will be cast out into the darkness where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We need to ask ourselves:
Do I know which Gift or Gifts of the Spirit God has given me?
if not – when will I try and find out?
If so then what am I doing about using that Gift that God has given me?
All of us should be displaying the fruits of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. [Gal 5:22,23] these things come out of having the Holy Spirit and are common to all Christians.
But each one of us have also been given a gift or gifts of the Holy Spirit – special things that we can only do because we have Him inside us, because God was gracious enough to give Him to us – not so we can build ourselves up but so that we can be a part of the exciting things that God is doing in His world. Things that only people with the Spirit can do.
At the start of this talk we thought about how the best gifts we get are the ones we use, and that the ones we are not all that impressed with we set aside and do not use.
God has given each one of us a gift – a gift that cost His son.
It is such a travesty to have such a gift and not to use it.
6 Conclusion
I am saying these things to you because this is what I would want to hear if someone was speaking on The Gifts of The Spirit and I was in the congregation.
I would want to hear that God loved me so much that he died for me – that when I accepted that first Gift Of God - Christ - I was given the Holy Spirit and He dwells within me and along with Him I was also given Gifts of the Spirit, things that God has enabled me to do, that he has called me to do, that I can only do because I do have the Holy Spirit within me.
So listen up – God loved you so much that he died for you – when you accepted that first Gift Of God - Christ – you were given the Holy Spirit and He dwells within you and along with Him you were also given a Gift or Gifts of the Spirit, things that God has enabled you to do, that he has called you to do, that you can only do because you do have the Holy Spirit within you.
We used to talk being at a cross roads – well we have chosen a turn and are heading down it – and God has been and will be calling each one of us to get involved to be a part of the new direction that he is taking His church in. The direction that he has been and is giving to the pastors and elders and deacons and ministry leaders of our church as they seek Him and honour Him and serve Him and each of us.
That passage in 1 Cor about us being a part of the body and how each part must work together for the body to be whole – that applies to us – it applies to you and you and you and to me.
So find let’s out what Gift or Gifts of the Spirit we have been given and let’s each one of us get out there and be doing the things that God has enabled us to do for Him in fact let’s eagerly desire spiritual gifts just like Paul exhorted us to do all those years ago and see the exciting things that God has planned for us as we obediently exercise the Gifts that he gave us for the common good
Brendan Daly
21.11.2004