WWUTT 1587 Wisdom and Knowledge Through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8)

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Reading 1 Corinthians 12:8 as Paul continues to explain the spiritual gifts, reading here about the utterance of wisdom and of knowledge. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!

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The Holy Spirit may give to one person a gift of knowledge.
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The Spirit may give to another person a gift of wisdom. And these two persons work together to benefit the body of Christ when we understand the text.
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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our
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Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt .com.
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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of 1
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Corinthians. We're in chapter 12, and I'm going to start out here reading verses 4 through 11 in the
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Legacy Standard Bible. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same
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Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of workings, but the same
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God who works everything in everyone. But to each one is given the manifestation of the
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Spirit for what is profitable. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the
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Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit. To someone else faith by the same
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Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit. And to another the workings of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits.
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To someone else various kinds of tongues, and to another the translation of tongues. But one and the same
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Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
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So we come back to verse 7, which was where we finished up yesterday. But to each one is given the manifestation of the
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Spirit for what is profitable. And again, as I mentioned yesterday, this is for the benefit of the church.
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It's for building one another up. Consider the gifts or the appointments that God has given to different persons in the church according to Ephesians chapter 4.
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Now this is a little more broad. This isn't necessarily in reference to specific spiritual gifts.
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But in Ephesians 4, beginning in verse 11, it says, He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ.
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So there you have different appointments. You actually have different ministries there. As we had read in 1
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Corinthians 12, which one was it? 5.
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1 Corinthians 12. 5. There are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. So what we're reading here in Ephesians 4 .11
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is those different ministries. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. And as God has appointed each one of these persons to these different ministries, what ultimately are they working toward?
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But to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Well, ultimately, it's to glorify
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God. Yes, definitely. But their task, the work that they do, the appointment that they have been given is for the purpose of building up the church, to equip the saints for the work of ministry.
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So there are not pastors and elders and deacons in a church that have been appointed to these respective tasks, and then the rest of the church just kind of attends and they become spectators of what the ministers are actually doing.
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So I'm coming to church. I'm listening to these ministers or I'm observing them do all these other things, but there's nothing for me to do.
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No, even those that have been appointed as teachers, their job is to now build up the saints for the work of ministry.
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So I'm helping to grow you in an understanding of the fact that God has called you to work.
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Everybody in the church has a job to do. There is something for everyone that we do in the spirit for the benefit of his church, equipping the saints for the work of ministry.
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We go on into verse 13. So this is Ephesians 4, 13, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature, the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes, rather speaking the truth in love.
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We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped.
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When each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
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So just as Paul stated there with the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter four, so also this instruction is being given to the
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Corinthians here in first Corinthians 12, 13 and 14. We're really talking about this over the course of three chapters.
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So just as Paul said to the Ephesians, these respective ministries have been given to members of the church for the benefit of the whole church, building the saints up for the work of ministry.
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So it is said to the Corinthians, to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for what is profitable, for what profits the church, what builds it up and prepares the saints, equips the saints for the work of ministry.
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Verse eight, and here's where we start to get into these respective spiritual gifts, these individual gifts, as Paul mentions them, and then we'll talk about what they mean.
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For to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit and another, the word of knowledge according to the same spirit.
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Now what we really want to talk about when we get to spiritual gifts, we want to talk about the cool gifts, right?
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The healings, the prophecies, the gifts of tongues. And those are the things too that tend to be the most controversial.
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So can we get to that part and we talk about that? No, the first gifts that Paul mentions here are gifts of teaching, really.
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That's what we have in verse eight. One is given the word of wisdom and to another, the word of knowledge according to the same spirit.
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What is the difference between having a gift of wisdom and having a gift of knowledge?
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Verse eight says to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit. Now, the, the word that is used there for word, right?
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The Greek word for word, I can be kind of confusing, but are you following me? So the
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Greek word there means utterance. We're talking about teaching to one is given the word, the utterance of wisdom through the spirit and to another, the word of knowledge according to the spirit.
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What is the difference between being able to teach wisdom and being able to teach knowledge?
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Wisdom is practical application. So it's being able to tell a person how to live according to the knowledge that they have been given, how to take that knowledge and now apply it and live by this.
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So there's going to be exhortation with the person that's been given wisdom. A person who has the utterance of wisdom exhorts, he gives imperatives, he tells people to do and he knows how to do that, how to persuade others.
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And, and when I say how to persuade, I'm not meaning like, like he's very convincing.
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And because of that skill that he has, that charismaticism that he's got, I'm using, now
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I'm using the word charismaticism here, not in the charismatic, spiritual gift sort of way. That word may just not work in this context.
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I didn't think about it when I said it, but I'm using the word charismatic in the sense of, you know, a person having a magnetic sort of a personality that people just like that guy or that gal, they're charismatic.
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That was the way that I meant it. But as we're talking about spiritual gifts here, that word may not work well.
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So anyway, the, the person who has a gift of an utterance of wisdom, he knows how to communicate to people what it is that they should do in light of the word that they have just heard.
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And that's all going to be according to the teaching of the word of God, right? Now, how about the person who receives knowledge?
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So to one is given the word of wisdom. He's the one that knows how to take that knowledge and apply it and live according to it.
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How to, how to teach you how to do that. What about the person who has the word of knowledge according to the spirit?
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Well, the knowledge is being able to grasp the truth. Like we read about knowledge in the
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Bible, what we're reading right now, what you're hearing me teach to you. You're receiving knowledge.
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You're hearing what God's word says and you know it. So knowledge, having a gift of knowledge, this is a person who knows what is true and is able to give that information to others that they may know.
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And they may understand what the word of God says. And we've been doing that as we've been going through first Corinthians.
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And Paul had said previously in chapter two, that it is by the Holy spirit that works in a person's heart, that they may understand, they may discern spiritual things.
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A person who does not have the spirit of God cannot understand spiritual truth for the, for it is spiritually discerned.
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The naturally minded man cannot understand the things of the spirit of God. But if we have the spirit of God, we can understand the truth of God's word.
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And this is knowledge. And some people just have that ability to, when they read a passage of scripture, they can look at it and they just know,
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I know this is what this means. And they have that ability to take other passages of scripture and use scripture to interpret scripture.
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They, uh, they exegete expertly. They see the context.
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They can outline structure and stuff like that. You know, all of the basic mechanics of being able to understand the word of God.
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That's the person who has that gift of knowledge. The person who has wisdom knows how to communicate this to other people and give them imperatives, exhorting them to do according to what it is that they have heard.
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The person who has knowledge has that gift of helping you to understand what God's word is actually saying.
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So there you have the first two giftings that are mentioned here in the gifts of the spirit both have to do with teaching because you can't do anything else without those gifts.
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First, if you don't have someone to teach you what God's word says, then how do you know what else you're supposed to be doing?
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So it's got to begin with that. And not to say that you can't learn yourself.
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I mean, everybody needs to learn the word of God. Everybody should have a Bible and you should crack it open and you should read it.
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Maybe you don't have a gift or an ability to know what it is that God's word says.
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Like you're confused. Most of the time you open up the Bible and you read it and it just doesn't immediately make sense to you or you don't have that gift of knowing how then to apply this.
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See, when it comes to the wisdom aspect of teaching God's word, I don't do as well with communicating how to do it or how to apply it.
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I know I automatically know how this applies. I'm one of those that when I can read the
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Bible, I know what I'm supposed to do. So I read the scripture. The Holy Spirit convicts my heart.
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I know what it is that I have to do because of what the scripture says. So it's like that exhortation is given to me and I just know what it is that I need to do.
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But it's not as easy for me to communicate to somebody else what they need to do.
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You get what I mean? So it's almost as if I have more the gift of knowledge than I have the gift of wisdom, and I need somebody else to help me in that gift of wisdom, knowing how to communicate that to somebody else.
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I can read this and know what it is that I'm supposed to do. But how do I now take this and tell somebody else what it is that they're supposed to do?
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Where do I find the words to communicate that? And that's where my study comes from because then
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I'll do study and seeing what other persons have said about this passage in how to communicate that exhortation.
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That's where I need to get that help from. But the two gifts that are mentioned here in the same verse, in verse eight, this doesn't mean that one person has a gift of wisdom and another person has a gift of knowledge, but the same person can't have both gifts.
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I get questions about this quite a bit. Like, can a person have more than one spiritual gift? Yeah, there's nothing here that says that a person cannot have more than one spiritual gift.
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Now, of course, Paul is approaching this very individualistically because he's saying to one is given the word of wisdom and to another the word of knowledge.
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So as he's wording it that way, he's saying one person has this gift and another person has this gift, but he's not in the way that he's wording that.
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It doesn't mean that a person will only have this gift and that person over there will only have this gift, but their gifts don't overlap.
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That's not what it is that he means to communicate. He's simply showing that the spirit gives different gifts to different people as he wills.
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It's according to the spirit's work. So the one person has one gift and another person has another gift.
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That doesn't mean that there's any kind of division. It doesn't mean that they're in competition with one another. It simply means that the spirit is working in this way in this person and in this way in another person, and they both work together as members of the same body for building the body up in love.
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That's why Paul words it in this way, but it's not to mean that a person is only going to have one spiritual gift.
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Again, there are people that have several of these giftings, especially a pastor. There may be among pastors a you'll observe or you'll pick up from them that they actually have several spiritual gifts.
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There's one that has a gift of knowledge really good at knowing what it is.
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The Bible says he's also very, very discerning. So he has that gift of being able to recognize what is true and what is false, or as Charles Spurgeon put it, what is true and what is almost true.
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He has that ability to distinguish between spirits, which is mentioned in verse 10.
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So again, you might see, especially in pastors or in ministers, an ability to or rather a blessing of several different spiritual gifts.
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Now, just as a person has a particular talent, and in order to hone in on that talent, they should focus on that talent and maybe not so much other talents that they have.
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Like, say, for example, a person is gifted with an athletic ability, and they also have a musical ability.
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Whichever one they give the most time to, that's what they're going to be the best at. They might be very, very skilled in both things, but the thing they dedicate themselves to the most is where they're going to be the most skilled.
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So a person has to make a decision at that point. Do I want to be a musician? Is that how
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I'm going to make my living, applying my talents to learning music? And my focus is primarily going to be music, and then
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I do the athletic stuff as kind of a hobby on the side. Or am I going to decide that my career is going to be something in athletics?
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And so I'm going to focus on the sports and this sport in particular, because I'm really good at that sport and get really, really good at it.
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And all the opportunities and doors that will open for me because of my dedication to this particular skill.
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So a person needs to devote themselves to one thing, and they get better at that thing. And I'm going to say this is speculative on my part, but when it comes to spiritual gifts, that needs to be the same endeavor.
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You may have more than one spiritual gift, but there's one in particular that you are exercising more than the others.
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And it's that one that you get better at. It's that one that you hone in on and becomes, therefore, the benefit to the church.
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You can't do everything that needs to be done in the church like, well,
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I have this gift, this gift and this gift. So I'm going to serve in all these different areas. Well, you need to leave room for somebody else who may not have those giftings, all the different giftings that you've got, but they have a gifting in one area.
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So you need to let that person have that opportunity to be able to serve in that area instead of you showing all these areas that you can serve in because of the gifts that you have been given.
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Does that make sense? So we're focusing on one particular thing. I know that I can benefit the church in this way.
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And maybe you have a gift of teaching, but the church doesn't need a teacher right now.
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I have a gift of teaching and teaching this group of people, but the church really doesn't need that.
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What they need is somebody with a gift of administration, and you happen to have that gift as well. So maybe in this season, you are using your gift of administration where it is needed.
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And then when a time comes up for you to be able to focus on teaching, you might be able to do that a little bit later.
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I'm just kind of throwing out examples here. All of that simply to say that it doesn't necessarily mean that a person has just one gifting.
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You may have more than one spiritual gift, but focus on those areas that you know are going to be the most benefit to the church.
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You may also have a particular spiritual gifting that needs to be perfected, so you need to grow in that before you're given this role that you would really like to have and just be humble in those things.
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Look for somebody that is more seasoned in that particular area that might be able to lead you and guide you.
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And you also want to rely upon other people to help you know what your gifting is so that you know where you may serve.
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I have had plenty of situations in the past where somebody has come to me and said, I believe that my gifting is here, and I want to work and serve right here.
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And we might go ahead and give that person an opportunity to serve in that particular area where they believe that they are gifted.
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But over time, it's revealed to us, when I say us, it might be the elders, might be some other persons in the church who have been observing this particular person.
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But it becomes revealed to us that this person's gifting really isn't that area where they said that they were gifted.
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They just really wanted to serve there. And so, you know, brothers and sisters in the Lord being able to come alongside them and say, hey, we really don't think this is your gift.
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But in watching you serve in that area, we did happen to notice you're really good at this thing over here.
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So why don't we give you an opportunity to serve in this way? And hopefully by the spirit of God that is in their hearts, they will be humble about that suggestion and want to perfect or hone in on that gifting that they have been given, growing in that, that they may help grow the church.
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It's very congregational here, by the way. These instructions about spiritual gifts, there's a whole lot of congregationalism or congregational involvement going on here.
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This is not an elder rule sort of a thing where the elders are running the whole show and everybody else, again, just shows up to the church and becomes spectators to the church service.
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We're just watching these guys who are the ministers do all the stuff that they do. So in order to be guided in all of these other spiritual areas, we must first have a submission to these teaching gifts.
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Everybody has a responsibility to to grow in wisdom.
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As we've been reading through Proverbs, our Thursday study, Proverbs is littered with that call to wisdom to gain knowledge and to gain insight.
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So there is an imperative, there's exhortation for us in scripture to grow in wisdom and grow in knowledge.
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But there are some that are more gifted in those areas than others. They know how to convey that knowledge to others or exhort others that they may know how to apply it and live according to these things.
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We all have a responsibility to grow in wisdom and knowledge, but to some are given a greater helping of that ability that they may help others grow in wisdom and knowledge.
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And you consider some of these other spiritual gifts there to someone else faith by the same spirit.
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Well, we're all called to have faith, right? We'll discuss that one tomorrow to another gifts of healing by the one spirit to another, the workings of miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits.
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That's where we get the gift of discernment from is that reference to a distinguishing of spirits. Everybody has to have discernment.
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We're all called to be discerning. But there are those who are going to be more gifted in this than others will be for the benefit of the church.
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And verse 11, but one in the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills.
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And then we'll come back to consider that a little bit more tomorrow. We'll finish up the rest of these spiritual gifts and understand what is being conveyed here about these gifts.
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Do we still have gifts of healing? Do we still have gifts of prophecy and gifts of tongues in the church today?
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Because that's really the Gabe. That's the spiritual gifts I want to hear about. Well, then come back to the lesson tomorrow.
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Heavenly Father, thank you for making us part of your church that you have called us from darkness into light.
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You have called us from the world to gather with your body. And we have these different giftings given to different parts of the body.
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May we know what those spiritual gifts are that we have been granted for the benefit of your church, that it may be profitable, that we are building one another up in love to one is given a word of wisdom through the spirit to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same spirit.
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May we know what those gifts are in us if we have them and we help to build the church up accordingly.
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And if the gift that we have is not the gift of wisdom or the gift of knowledge, may we be ready to submit to those who have been given those gifts and learn from them that we all may grow together into Christ Jesus, the head of the church.
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It's in his precious name that we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the
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Text with Gabriel Hughes. Pastor Gabe is the author of 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says, examining some of our most common
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Christmas beliefs and traditions and bringing them back to the truth of Scripture. You can find this and other books at our website, www .tt