Spiritual Gifts (part 4)

The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts and the Need for a Biblical Foundation

Molly over there, that's all right.

You're never on this side of it always on that side. But the Navigators are always on this side, which is usually right there. Wow, I'm always looking right at you. My science II.

Human behavior, right? It worked fine for us last time, so we're going to sit in the same seat.

We're going to open today. We've gone through an understanding biblically what gifts are, why they're given biblically, the understanding of gifts. We've spent a couple of weeks actually looking at various gifts and spending some time, some significant time on some of them.

The intent today is to answer the question, why are we studying this in the first place? Now we know from our time together the gifts are given predominantly for two reasons, those are.

Glorify God and build up the body.

Did you read that or did you know that?

Yeah.

I'd look to Rich because he always knows.

I had to say it before he did.

Rick, not Rich, Rick, I've got that down. I want you to open this with Luke 12, 48 and it's not until we get to the last half of the verse that you'll understand why. I heard this, I had Hope FM on my way into church and the pastor, he's speaking out of the Old Testament, but he referred to Luke and I didn't listen to the address.

And I said, oh man, that's what we're opening with today. And so I asked Jeff, he Googled it, and then I looked it up and I go, I think Google was wrong. Until we read the whole verse. Go ahead.

But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating.

That's why I was saying I think you got this wrong.

Everyone to whom much was given of him much will be required and from him to whom they entrusted much they will demand the more.

Him whom much is given, much will be required. There are other passages, we have passages of talents. God entrusts us with this charismata. He entrusts us with what he has given to us. And we're going to study today, we're going to read today concepts of desiring.

These are good things. But the reality is we're going to get into it today. To whom much is given, much is going to be required. And you can either look at that as a heavy burden placed upon you. Or you can look at it as my opportunities are God given.

And that's an awesome thing. As we get into the concept of gifts, as we get into the concept of knowing what your gifts are, we're going to need to talk about what it means to actually know and how we need to get to know it.

But to be able to put this concept and put shoes on it and put it on the ground and use it, is to be of service and to be of obedience to our Lord. So we're going to go ahead and get started. Rich, would you open us in prayer today?

Heavenly Father, we praise you and worship you, Lord God. You said we're two or more God's who are in your midst, Lord God. We acknowledge your presence and we give you glory and praise and honor, Lord God.

And we pray, Lord God, that you anoint John now, speak through him to us, that we would grow in you to give you greater glory and honor and praise, and to grow more into Jesus, and to edify and bless each other as we grow in Christ.

We ask all these things in Jesus' precious name, amen.

Amen.

Ask who? Okay, I hope you don't have the notes. I'll give you the notes. Actually, you can say either. Anybody not have their copy? That's alright.

Anybody else need a copy? It's the one dated February 5th, right?

Yes.

So, you've got Acts 2, you know how to find it on my notes. 1 Corinthians 12, Kimberly, 1 Peter 4, and Ephesians 4, Gen. While they're looking this up, here's a question. Let's just warm ourselves up.

How do I know, how do you know, what's your gift? And I put gifts of the Spirit. How do you know which ones you receive? We're going to study this, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Take one of those back to the church. I know you hate us.

Well, I would think if spiritual gifts are equipment that God has given us to use for the edification of the church, then if we're using what God has given us, it would be fairly evident. So, if somebody has the gift of encouraging, if other people see this person is going around encouraging people, and that's something that comes fairly naturally to them, and other people are built up through that, then I would think it would be fairly evident.

So, if the gifts are designed to build up the church, I think it would be evident to others how that particular person is building up the church.

We're done. What do you guys want to do for the next 40 minutes? Let's start with the foundation. Let's go back to things that we've talked about. Let's talk about the foundation. Because if you want to talk about, how do I know what my gifts are, the second question is, why do I need to use them in the first place?

We really have to make sure our foundation is solid. So, Acts 2 .28.

Salvation, the Holy Spirit, and God’s Sovereign Distribution of Gifts

And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation. The gift of the Spirit requires what? Salvation. It requires the Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Salvation. This is not a discussion that would make a whole lot of sense in an evangelical environment.

This is probably one of those topics, unless you're using it to motivate somebody to desire to move into that realm, you don't start out with an unbeliever by motivating them to the gifts of the Spirit.

And by gifts of the Spirit, I'm talking about the things that we've talked about. The gift of the Spirit, obviously, is faith. The gift of the Spirit is grace. It's Christ's blood leading to salvation.

That is the gift of the Spirit. But for us to be able to proceed with the discussion of the gifts of the Spirit, I go with the basic understanding that we're all believers, and that we all have the Holy Spirit within us, because that's what it's all about.

It's about the Holy Spirit. Which leads us to 1 Corinthians 12 -11.

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one just as He determines.

What we have is based on the will of who?

Spirit.

Holy Spirit. As we get into a discussion of gifts, we're going to talk about things like desire. These are God-given urges, God-given thoughts in our mind. However, desiring, while that's a good thing, moving outside of the realm of God is probably not the right thing.

If you have the gift of encouragement, but you believe that you're a better off behind-the-scenes person, so you want to manifest the gift of service, we need to understand that God has wired you the way He wants you.

I speak from personal testimony. Many of you have been in my small group class, I am a self-proclaimed introvert. God had a different plan for me, in that He said, okay, you perhaps perceive yourself as an introvert, and I really am.

Because if I spend time with people, I have to spend time by myself to recover. That's just the way I am. But He wants me in a more public realm. As an introvert, I would be much more comfortable behind-the-scenes.

We need to understand it's God's will. 1 Peter 4 .11.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever.

Amen.

A couple of things I want to bring out on that. One of them, this has been one of our cornerstone verses, in that the purpose behind gifts is to give glory to God. But notice also what Bob read there.

The ability for us to minister based on gifts is based on what?

God's power, His enablement.

Even once we get to the point of understanding what my spiritual gift is, what your spiritual gift is, it is still only going to make a difference if it's used in reliance on God's power. There's a whole lot of submission, and there's a whole lot of release of, I'm not doing it well enough.

Well, if you're doing it by yourself, no, you're not doing it well enough. But guess what, there's an answer. There's an answer, and it's relying on God. Which begs the question, how do you know when you're using what you perceive as your spiritual gift, whether you're stepping out on your own, or whether you're relying on God?

How do you know?

I believe it's the effects. If you're edifying the body, if people in the body say, that was a blessing, you blessed me with that, then I feel that the Holy Spirit will be working through you to exercise a gift to build someone up.

That's one possibility.

It is a good possibility, so I'm going to ask a question off of that. Is it possible to be pursuing under your own and have effect? And I think the answer is yes. I think the answer is yes. We've talked about this before.

There are many ways to look at this. One is, how much time are you spending in prayer? How much time are you spending intentionally seeking God as opposed to going in on your own cleverness? That's one way to check it.

But another way to check it perhaps is, do you feel slighted when you're not recognized for what you're doing by somebody else? Our purpose should be to give glory to God. I don't need to be. It can be very uncomfortable to have somebody come up to you and pat you on the back.

Although this should be accepted, and it should be accepted with grace.

It can be...

Well, this is another check. Yeah, you're right. I did it good. Well, okay. Be careful. Be careful. Because we too often are going to step out on our own power. Ephesians 4.

From Him the whole body joins and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

So in addition to giving glory to God, we receive gifts in order to build up the spirit. Build up the body. Build up the body. This is our motivation. If the foundation has to start with salvation, if the substance has to be from the Holy Spirit, the motivation has to be correct.

It has to be Godly. It has to be for His glory. It has to be for building up. Notice none of these motivations talk about self-acknowledgement. None of them talks about that, which actually leads us to the very next one.

So Nate, you've got 1 Corinthians 12, 31, and Rich, you've got 1 Corinthians 14, 1 right on top of that. 1 Corinthians 13, 1 to 3, Loretta, and 1 Peter 4, 8, Bill, you're going to have that. Do you need a sheet?

You can take one.

So go ahead. 1 Corinthians 12, 31.

But eagerly desire the greater gifts,.

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

And now go ahead, Rich.

Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

In between those two verses in 1 Corinthians 13, what's 1 Corinthians 13 all about?

Love.

How to use your gifts in love.

How to use your gifts in love. It's the love chapter. It's agape. So if you want to fill in my little blanks for paragraph 2, it starts with love. It is biblical to desire the gifts. It is not pride. It is not improper.

It is biblical to desire the gifts. But it's interesting in both of those verses, they put a tag on it. Desire the best gifts. It says that. But there is a more excellent way. What is that more excellent way?

Love.

What makes love a necessary element to using spiritual gifts?

God is love. And if the Holy Spirit's in you, then love should be in you. When you come down to it.

Love is what compels us to be others oriented and God oriented, rather than using gifts selfishly.

Yeah, it's sad. Give me 1 Corinthians 13, 1 -3.

If I speak in the tongues of angels and of men, but have not love, I am a noisy god or a clangy sickle. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove madness, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

These are some fairly powerful descriptions of using gifts of the Spirit. And it describes those actions when void of love as being what?

Empty. Empty.

If we want to understand what our gifts are, it's first, I think, important for us to have a good grasp on God's love. And have God's love exhibited in our life and in everything we do. 1 Peter 4 is kind of an interesting one.

We all keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins.

Love covers a multitude... Explain that passage to me. If you have the gift of encouragement and a brother or a sister has done something that appears to be offensive to you, without love there can be resentment perhaps.

Without love there can be this resistance to actually doing that for the other person. If a brother or a sister has a different political view from you and actually becomes active in expressing that political view, especially in our climate today, I'm not saying that that's a sin, but I'm saying it can be perceived as an offense.

It says love does what?

Covers it.

Covers it. When we get down to using our spiritual gifts and we look at those around us, our vision has to be through a lens. I don't care about anything else.

Proverbs 17 .9 says, whoever covers an offense seeks love. But he who repeats a manner separates close friends.

Proverbs 17 .9?

Whoever covers an offense seeks love.

Now, by the way, there are other Proverbs. I wish I could remember exactly in my mind and assess that. If you have a brother and you don't address a sin, you're not doing him any good, but in love you address the sin.

So there are times when we don't just cover, but in God we address it. But if we're talking about the one another, if we're talking about the health of the body, if we're talking about being obedient to using our gifts, we can't pick and choose when we use it.

It has to be in love. So now we get to the good stuff. How do you seek and understand your gifts? Nate, you had a really good recommendation for us. How do you know what your gift is? 1 Corinthians 7 .7, Rick, if you would get that for us, please.

I wish that all were as I myself am, but each one has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

We all have our own gift. It's there. If there are a group of us in this room, it is a fact. Given that you are a child of God, you have a spiritual gift, each one. Real simple question, why is it important to know what your spiritual gift is?

Is that proper English, Rick? Probably not. Why is it important to know? That's a really good insight. In fact, that's going to come on down below here so that you'll use it.

The other thing I'd say about that is I've seen people throw themselves into ministry and they're trying to do everything. I'm going to serve here and I'm going to do this and I'm going over here and I'm doing that and they burn out.

So perhaps they're going outside of where God's called them to work and so then they end up discouraged and they haven't really connected with what they're trying to do.

You need the person with the gift of administration to delegate it.

Other than the apostle Paul, not too many are multi-gifted.

Sometimes that could be the result of others in the body not using their gifts. Somebody's got to fill this position because it's not being done.

Is delegation a gift?

No, it's not, unless you consider it part of administration, not leadership.

Well, leadership should recognize the gifts of other people too and be able to distribute it to the right people.

I chose intentionally not to. There are a lot of really good resources out there that take it. And by the way, if you don't have a copy of this list, I'm willing to give it to you. Those of you who weren't here when we did it, this is, out of all the key passages that we've read, all the gifts that are listed and where they show up.

And the groupings are by me. They're not inspired. But to me it helped. When we get down into this discussion of how do I know what my gift is, well, what are the gifts? The list is here. If you don't have it, I can give a copy to you.

Does this verse imply there's only one?

No.

At least one.

It implies that there's at least one.

Yeah.

I will say, however, now that you asked that question, in the Greek, the word proper gift is singular. That's not to say because of other passages, however, that it's necessarily that intended, that you only have one gift.

By the way, another question can be if I have come to the Lord in my early 20s, whatever you did, and God provided a spiritual gift to me, does that necessarily mean that when I'm 66 that I still have the same gift or has He changed His plan for me?

I can't biblically answer that question. I really can't biblically answer that question. Yeah, Bill.

The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

Say what, please?

The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

Romans 11, 29.

Yes.

Would you pull that out, please? I didn't look at that.

Romans 11, 29. The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. He was saying that in a specific application to Israel, even though they temporarily were blinded for the sake of the Gentiles, that their ultimate calling in God would be fulfilled.

Paul was basically saying, Romans 11, don't think that God has burned them off.

He hasn't.

He still is going to use them because His gifts and calling are irrevocable.

That would be a fun one to look at. In fact, I'm going to outside of this. I have not found that passage.

I think the problem is that people who get hurt and go through a difficult time in their life, withdraw and then say, well, I had that gift at one time, but I'm finished with ministry right now. But God can restore you.

I guess I can restore Jonah.

Boy, I wish we had another week on this class.

Great.

I think just the way God uses you maybe is different at 26 and 66. Same gift, different way of using it.

That's a great bridge. I firmly believe that there are times when God says, and Bob, to your point, the individual who just doesn't know how to say no perceives, to your point, there are perhaps those in church not doing it and there's a need, so I'll step up and do it, and they burn out.

And there are times when God says, just take a break. There are times when he does that. And then there are times when God swells his desire for your application. There are methods out there for understanding your spiritual gift.

There are personality surveys. And you see these, you take these. They'll ask, how do you feel when you do this? And they'll run you through a hundred questions and based on your answers, then there's a key matrix at the end of it.

And they'll take, and it's interesting, I've never seen one that lists all of the gifts. They list those that they think are important. And they'll say that you're a 9 out of 10 in this area or you're a 2 out of 10 in this area.

Following up on what Carol said, you might have a gift that God will use in different contexts. Like if you have a gift to teach, maybe he'll use you in a classroom in one context or as a preacher in a different context.

Yeah, we're going to actually hold that thought because when we get to the bottom of this page, that's exactly where we're going to go. Another approach has the church leadership creating a master table of the ministry's opportunities within the church.

And you go look for those. And you match people up to them. My concern about either one of these is I don't know that they're the biblical approach to doing it. I don't know that they are. Because it's using your intellect to answer a spiritual question.

So I'm not sure. There's a lot of truth in them, but I think that there's a better way. That's why I desire, and actually Jeff desires us not, to go into a psychological survey, match .com, something like that.

We did that to get our pastor.

Well, we did. But in addition, we sought out, what's your spiritual gift? We didn't tell them what a spiritual gift. We did use websites. We could ask Jen to create a website where you can go in and say, I'd like to do this kind of thing.

Let's find out to the extent that biblically it's going to tell us what to do, and then using biblical principles. 1 Corinthians 12, 31. I think, Carol, I think you're up next. 1 Corinthians 12, 11, Hope.

Romans 12, 1 and 2. Actually, we're going to do that one first. But Kimberly, you've got that. And Romans 12, 9 to 13. Give me Romans 12, 1 and 2. We're going to do that first.

Desiring the Gifts in Love and the Call to Surrender

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

That passage tells us to do what? In addition, there's a whole lot more to it. That's absolutely true. There's a lot more to it.

Offer bodies as living sacrifices.

How does that apply to the concept of knowing your spiritual gift?

You can't know God's good, perfect, pleasing, and all before that.

That's right. If you're holding on to you, it's going to be difficult to hear Him. If you want to know your spiritual gift, start there. Start with your relationship with God. Start with your proper relationship with God.

Offer your body a living sacrifice. Be transformed. Do no longer be conformed to the things of this world. Being conformed to the things of this world are only going to lead you down the path of pride, position, power, those types of things.

If you want to understand your spiritual gifts, start out with your relationship with God. It's a good place to be.

It reminds me of the hymn,.

All to Jesus I surrender.

Absolutely. Which takes us to 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31.

But earnestly desire the greater gifts, and I show you a still more excellent way.

And then 1 Corinthians 14 talks the same thing. Desire the spiritual gifts. If you want to understand your spiritual gifts, respond to God's given will in your life. God puts it within you to have a certain desire.

Rich, you brought this one up our very first week, and I understand within context. 12 .1 asks this question, the greater gifts. The reality of desiring where God wants you to be and responding to that desire.

It means you maybe have to step out of your comfort zone. There's this desire in you, but you resist it. Don't step ahead of the Holy Spirit. Don't lag behind the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit urges you, move.

I was thinking in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14, is it more of a broader local church context? You as a local church desire the greater gifts because of the abuses that were happening in the local church in the early chapters with lawsuits and conflicts and all that stuff happening.

I was just wondering if perhaps Paul was saying if the you is not so localized that it's just you, each individual person, but you as a whole body desire the gifts that build up the body rather than being self-focused.

Which guy thought about that? Do you understand the question? If you go to this passage, it says desire the spiritual gift. It's a second-person command. Do you understand first-person, second-person?

It's a second-person command to desire. But does you in a second-person command, is it global to the body of the believers or is it first-person, second-person singular, you the individual? What's your thoughts on that?

Hard to say in the context, but it would make more sense because if he's telling you God has given you spiritual gifts and then he's telling you to desire the greater gifts, well, maybe God didn't give me any greater gifts.

But it would make sense to say to a body.

Within the context, because it's immediately following on to 1 Corinthians 13, 1 through 3, it has, I believe, more meaning to the individual. Each individual needs to act in love. If you have the gift of prophecy, if you speak in tongues, if you do these things without love, it is a... it's both.

It's both. It's a direct command to us individually to not step out ahead of or behind God. But it's also, I think, in greater context, there's definitely that there.

One thing in 1 Corinthians 12, 27, it says, that's the first sentence in this paragraph, now you are the body of Christ. You're in church. And each one of you is a part of it.

So it's both there. So it's both. So it's both there. 1 Corinthians 12, 11. Don't get ahead of him. Don't get behind him. Surrender to his will. You want to know what your gifts are, surrender to his will.

Which means this is a spiritual endeavor, to understand your spiritual gifts, a spiritual endeavor. That's 12, 9 -13.

12, 9 -13. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Two things of the observation in that. One is, again, the presence of love. And the second that these are commands. These are imperatives. These are not acts of state. These are actions that we're supposed to do.

If you want to know what your spiritual gift is, you better be ready to serve. If you want to know what your spiritual gift is, don't go down that path. Just know it. Go down that path with the desire to do it.

Because once we know what we do, there's imperatives to do it. There are imperatives to do it with love. So be equipped. Be equipped on how you're going to do it. So some practical recommendations. And I believe these to be biblical.

I'm not going to give you a passage for each one of them. But it's already been said. Ask yourself some questions. What has God prepared you to do? Which is to say, what abilities, what talents, what urges, what desires, has he equipped you with?

He's undoubtedly moving you in the direction to succeed in what he wants you to do. So if you are not a person who would be comfortable as a preacher, that's just not your personality, chances are he's not giving you that gift.

If you're a person who enjoys standing in front and taking a passage and working through it, maybe you have the gift. God has given you a teaching. Maybe God has given you. But look at what God has given you.

It's the most practical place to start. He's the God who has created you. He's also the God who has saved you. He's also the God who has given you his spirit. And he's the God who's equipped you with his gifts.

So start there. Other questions you can ask is, what ministries interest you? And this is where you need to be honest with yourself. And then even look around, what ministries in the church are in need?

If there's something not being done in the church, maybe there's a reason why it's not being done in the church. Maybe it's you. These are practical ways for you to look at it. But here's the actions, and this is I think where it gets most important.

I don't have it listed on here. It almost seemed too obvious, but it has to be the first action. What would the first action be?

Prayer.

That has to be the first action. This is a spiritual issue. This is not an intellect issue. If you want to know where your gifts are, what your gifts are, who's going to disclose them to you?

Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit.

I think, too, in the Romans 12 passage, you're supposed to be prayerful, but you also are supposed to be fervent, zealous, and rejoicing. So it has to be something that matches your gifts, in a sense.

Maybe even the non-spiritual gifts, in a sense.

And this is really why we have these psychological surveys, recognizing what you've just said. It really does. So perhaps without taking psychological surveys, you know yourself. You do know yourself.

Pray. Pray. The second thing is find opportunities. There's almost no better way to have affirmation of what you think you understand than to actually do it and have it affirmed. So that says if you believe you have a certain gift, if you've never stepped out to try it, it's never been affirmed, or whatever else, take the risk in front of the Lord and step out and try it.

Pray and step forward. Praise. Yeah.

That's like when we tell Jeff, and he gives a good message, Jeff, that was wonderful. We're confirming to him that God has called him and anointed him to be a pastor.

Yeah.

Which takes us to the next one. Do we are a body of one another? Seek input from other people. Seek input from other people. Be willing to give input to other people. If I believe I've got the gift of discernment, which would place me in an amazing position in the church, test the Spirit's understanding.

Talk to the church leaders. Talk to fellow believers who know you. I perceive a gift of discernment that God has moved. What's your input? Which really requires us to be transparent and honest. And not say, oh, you feel that great.