Foundations F17 follow-up Bible School 2 Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual Gifts
A vital part of our preparation is Spiritual Gifts – not just knowing what they are and which one, or ones, you may or may not have, but why and how they are given, what is actually given, to whom are they given and how are they to be used.
Also to look briefly at natural gifts used spiritually. My greatest fear is that all my teaching and ministering maybe nothing more than natural gifts – absorbing information, analysing and categorising it, and then regurgitating it as required! But I do believe that natural gifts used spiritually are much more valuable than spiritual gifts used naturally (i.e. in the flesh!).
Almost any discussion of spiritual gifts descends into discussing tongues. I say ‘descends’ as, although Paul values it quite highly as a gift (I thank my God that I speak in tongues more than you all), he ranked it quite lowly in actual use for ministry to others (I would rather speak 5 words with my understanding … than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue).
Question: Why are Spiritual Gifts given to the body? Some answers from the group:
- We are God’s instruments and it’s His work, so we need His gifts through the Spirit
- They are gifts – so not for us to demand
- Accordingly, they are not guaranteed, to remind us that we are dependent on Him
- They are given to meet specific situations
- To equip the body for service
- To open unbelievers to the gospel
Our God is a God of ultimate creativity and variety and Spiritual Gifts are a beautiful kaleidoscope of that. But better than a kaleidoscope which is just something you admire, they are building blocks of beautiful ministry whereby the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is equipped for ‘works of service’.
To change the metaphor, they are part of the weapons of our warfare too. With any sort of weapon, you need to know what it is and how to deploy it effectively, in order to achieve the strategic objectives set by our Commander-in-Chief.
First point to note: We need to target the enemy, not each other! So-called ‘spiritual gifts’ have often been used by believers against other believers and ‘Friendly fire’ is just as deadly as any enemy fire – probably more so, as it brings doubt and discouragement to our own forces and has caused many to fall away completely. We have to watch that church doesn’t descend into a circular firing squad!
The second point follows on from the first: Ministry without maturity can be dangerous. Not that receiving Spiritual Gifts is dependent on us having come to maturity – in that case, none of us would have any! But there has to be a parallel development in maturity, a.k.a. the Fruit of the Spirit.
Foundational point – The Holy Spirit does not give the gifts apart from Himself – the Spiritual Gifts are simply the Spirit of God operating in us as He dwells with us and in us – the Renewed Mind Filled with the Spirit – open to each and every believer regardless of the length of time they’ve been saved (Acts 2:39) For the gifts to be ministered effectively, we need the filling of the Spirit. Otherwise, we can treat them just as toys to amuse the saints. We are in the times that C H Spurgeon forecast when, instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, we have clowns entertaining the goats (often mimicking spiritual gifts)!
What is being filled with the Spirit? (Eph. 5:18)
- What it is not
- Not a badge of merit for superior Christians
- Not a reward for notching up a few brownie points
- Not a feel-good factor or warm fuzzy feeling – although may be accompanied by an emotional and/or physical response
- What it is
- The coming of the presence of God into your body, soul and spirit – not once, but as a lived experience
- The divine afflatus – a strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration. [Latin afflātus , from past participle of afflāre , to breathe]
- An anointing for service Luke 4:14-23
- The continuous empowering presence of God to be all that He wants you to be and to do all that He wants you to do – is my experience of the Holy Spirit an Old Testament or New Testament experience? John 14:16-17 He will abide with you forever … He dwells with you and shall be in you – this is gloriously true but not always enjoyed by us. But we shouldn’t pray “Come Holy Spirit” – he’s already here – or sing “We want more of You” – He wants more of us!
- OT – came upon people for specific tasks, e.g. 70 elders, Bezalel, Saul
- NT – He will be in you and abide with you for ever, so we shouldn’t pray like David in Psa. 51 “Take not your Spirit from me” (like the Lord had done with Saul 1 Sam. 16:14). We need to rejoice in the reality of His ever-presence!
Spiritual Gifts flow out of this, but what are they?
Two lists in 1 Cor. 12, one in Rom. 12 and one in Eph. 4, plus some instructions on their use in 1 Pet. 4:9-11
Anybody pick up similarities between Rom 12 and 1 Pet. 4? (might need to look at adjacent verses?) Love, grace, mercy, reliance on God.
One emphasis across all 4 lists is unity. Rom. 12:4 one body; 1 Cor. 12:12 one body; Eph. 4:4 one body. It seems that every time Paul mentions the one body, his mind turns to spiritual gifts and their role in preserving the unity of the body. Is that how we view them?
The promotion and use of Spiritual Gifts can be very divisive and if they are used that way, I suggest that the flesh is in operation. Can you use Spiritual Gifts in the flesh? Experience suggests so! E.g. a word given by the Spirit and applied in the flesh, prefaced with ‘Thus says the Lord’ (or equivalent) – allows no argument or discussion, which contradicts the Scriptural injunction for ‘words’ to be tested.
Note the involvement of the whole Tri-unity. While the emphasis is on one-ness in the body, the gifts have different roles to play:
| READ 1 Cor. 12:4-6 | Listed in | What/who/how | Who does the giving | Emphasis |
| v. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; | 1 Cor. 12:7-13; 28-30 | Ministries | The Spirit | Unity in the body |
| v. 4 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; | Eph. 4:11 | Ministers (servants) | The Lord Jesus | Maturity of the Body |
| v. 6 and there are varieties of activities but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone | Rom. 12:4-8 | Manner | The Father | Harmony in the Body |
Following on in 1 Corinthians, Paul describes:
- Ch. 12:8-end The Ministries – unity in diversity
- Ch. 13: 1-3 The Motivation for the Gifts – Love
- Ch. 13: 8-12 The Measure of the Gifts However impressive, they are temporal only
- Ch. 14 The Method of Management of the Gifts NB they are exercised in the assembly under the headship of Christ for edification, with consideration of others– accountability is essential –1 Thess. 5:21. Spiritual Gifting does not entitle you to be a Lone Ranger – you’re more likely to be a Lone Wolf in sheep’s clothing (1 Cor. 14:29-32)
- Eph. 4 The Ministers – servants to empower the Body
- Rom. 12 The Manner – with humility and grace
1 Cor. 12:7-13 – Gifts given by the Spirit
Note v. 12 emphasis on unity and one body and v. 27-30 note emphasis on variety
Knowing gifts – for a specific situation (must be from the Holy Spirit otherwise it’s equivalent to clairvoyance!)
- A word of wisdom – understanding which goes beyond natural ability
- A word of knowledge – knowledge about, or of something, which you could not have known naturally (if used to control someone or a situation, it’s witchcraft!)
- Distinguishings of spirits – knowing if something or someone is from God
Action gifts – each instance is a gift (note plurals)
- Faith – a specific trust in specific circumstances
- Gifts of healings – often accompanied by a gift of faith or of knowledge
- Workings of miracles – particularly associated with the Apostles
Speaking gifts – each instance is a gift (note plurals)
- Prophecy – speaking out the Word of God, particularly in a specific situation (as opposed to teaching or preaching)
- Various kinds of tongues – use of a language which is unknown to the speaker, to praise God, or sometimes as a message to the hearers (requires interpretation)
- Interpretations of tongues – see above
Sense that all the gifts are available to anyone at any time as the Spirit enables, like bunches of grapes hanging down, waiting for you to pick one off as appropriate – walking in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Releases you from the stress of identifying ‘your’ gift –it will be more obvious to others anyway!
v.28-30 Starts moving towards the people who are gifts rather than the gifts they use
And God has appointed in the church
- first apostles, – pioneers, church planters, opening up new areas for the Gospel
- second prophets, – may have had inspired messages to speak to God’s people before the New Testament was widely available (e.g. Acts 13:1-2; Eph. 2:20)
- third teachers, – teaching the Word of God as revealed in Scripture
- then miracles,
- then gifts of healings,
- helping,
- administering,
- various kinds of tongues,
- interpretation of tongues
Eph. 4:11 Gifts given by the ascended glorified Lord Jesus
gives anointed people as appointed gifts to the Church.
- The apostles,
- The prophets,
- The evangelists, – those with specific gifts for reaching the unsaved
- The shepherds and teachers, – a full pastoral ministry
Why? “To equip the saints for the work of ministry (not to do all the work themselves!) for building up the body of Christ”
To sum up the gifts explicitly listed in NT
| Type | Type | ||||
| Action | Acts of mercy | Role | Apostles | ||
| Giving | Evangelists | ||||
| Administrating | Leading | ||||
| Helping/Serving | Shepherds and Teachers, | ||||
| Hospitality | Speaking | Exhorting | |||
| Miracles | Speaking | ||||
| Gifts of healings | Teaching | ||||
| Knowing | A word of knowledge | Prophecy | |||
| A word of wisdom | Kinds of Tongues | ||||
| Distinguishings of spirits | Interpretations of Tongues | ||||
| Faith |
Many of them listed correctively!
NB Not patience, maturity or discernment – these are our responsibility! Heb. 5:14; 2 Pet. 1:5-8 Next week discernment as a spiritual discipline (contrast discernings of spirits, which is a spiritual gift because 1 Cor. 2:10b-16). Also, discipling not mentioned as a gift, but may involve a number of gifts.
What about natural gifts in the NT used spiritually (and commended)
- Hospitality
- Visiting the sick
- Feeding the hungry
- Making clothing
- Handling money
- Serving the poor
- Entertaining the saints
- Hosting travelling gospel ministers
- Making your home available for the saints to gather
- Being an encourager
Almost always mentioned with commendation!
How are the gifts to be used?
How they are NOT to be used
- To make us look good
- To make us feel good
- To promote our favourite doctrine or agenda
- To get one over on the Pastor
- To co-opt God onto our agenda
How were they used in the NT?
(Jesus used them all apart from tongues?)
- To draw people to Christ – Acts 2:6-7 tongues; Acts 3:11 preaching and healing; Acts 9:42 miracle (raising of Dorcas); loads of examples of evangelical proclamation in Acts
- To answer persecutors – Acts 4:8-12, 19-20 word of wisdom (Peter to Sanhedrin);
- To support those less well off – Acts 4:32-35 generosity;
- In Church discipline – Acts 5:3-4 word of knowledge;
- To authenticate Stephen’s preaching – Acts 6:8 miracles;
- To commission the Apostle Paul Acts 9:12-18 healing;
- To prepare the disciples to help others Acts 11:28 word of knowledge;
- To set apart Paul and Barnabas for the work Acts 13:1-2 prophecy
- To prepare Paul for persecution Acts 21:11 word of knowledge
- To bring conviction to the unbeliever 1 Cor. 14:24 prophecy
- To validate Paul’s calling as an Apostle 2 Cor. 12:12 miracles (signs and wonders)
- To encourage and strengthen the people of God Rom. 1:11-12
Summarise how and why the Spiritual Gifts are to be used:
- In reliance on the Holy Spirit – not ‘My’ gift or gifts but His, or rather, Himself – variety
- To promote unity in the Body
- To serve others in Love
- With consideration, humility and grace
- To build other people up
- To bring unbelievers to Christ
- Not as a substitute for Spiritual Maturity (don’t focus on spiritual gifts, focus on spiritual maturity and the gifts will flow)
- Not to be confused with Fruit (Gal. 5:22-23 – the character of Jesus)
