What Are Spiritual Gifts?
Tools for the Assignment
Ephesians 2:8-10
8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so
that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's handiwork, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to
be uninformed. 2 You
know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led
astray to mute idols. 3
Therefore I want you to know 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.
4
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and
in everyone it is the same God at work. 7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
Today’s New International Version Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
You are equipped.
That’s what Q said to James Bond in almost every one of the spy
thrillers. For example in the 1999 film The
World is Not Enough Q gives him a wristwatch which contains a grappling hook with fifty feet
of high-tensile micro-filament and a high intensity lighted bezel. He’s given a normal looking credit card with
a removable strip that activates a spring-loaded multifunction lock pick. He’s given two eye-glasses. One remotely detonates an explosive
"flash-bang" charge. The
second enables X-ray vision to check for concealed weapons. For us Presbyterians he was given a bagpipe
which contains a flamethrower and a machine gun. Of course you wouldn’t think
of sending someone out to be a spy without a hidden flamethrower hidden in
their bagpipe would you?
How about the term “nicely equipped”? That’s what car ads say to describe a car
with power windows, power locks, mirrors, AM/FM CD player and air
conditioning. But they use the term “fully
equipped” to describe a car with all the above options, plus ABS brakes and leather
seats.
A car mechanic is hired if he
comes equipped with his own tools. A
translator is hired if she comes equipped with fluency in multiple
languages. A realtor is hired if he
comes equipped with a sales or brokers license.
A college football quarterback is drafted into the NFL if he comes
equipped with a rifle arm who can throw and lead a team.
When we were new homeowners my
tool chest consisted of two hammers, one screw driver, one philips driver and a
pair of pliers. I was amazed at how
handy I became with repairs when I was able to finally start buying the right
tools for jobs. We need to be properly
equipped for the jobs that we have to do.
Now we know that God has called
us from birth. The Bible is very clear
about that and that was the subject of our previous study. That’s what gives meaning to our
existence. No matter how discouraged,
how depressed or how hopeless you feel, you have a calling from your Creator
above. That’s where you need to start
every single day. When you wake up in
the morning you need to think or say to yourself; I am called by God. I have purpose for living. I am known, loved and called by God.
God would never call someone to
a job that God didn’t also equip that person for the job. That’s what this whole series is going to be
about. Just as Q would never send James
Bond out into the hostile world without a wristwatch grapling hook designed specifically
for the job he was going to have to do, so God would never send you out without
the specific equipment to do a job.
Q would take James Bond into
the laboratory to give him his equipment.
When you desire to follow Jesus Christ and open your heart to receive
Christ, God’s Holy Spirit overtakes you.
That’s when you get the equipment.
I’ve noticed in Scripture and in my personal experience that often the
filling comes after believers who have been filled with God’s Spirit before us pray
over us that we become filled with this Spirit.
That’s when you get the abilities
that you didn’t have before.
This may sound far fetched to
you but when the Holy Spirit first fell upon believers in the Upper Room after
Jesus’ resurrection in Acts 2 they began to speak in foreign languages they
hadn’t learned. That’s one example of an
ability they didn’t have before. But they
didn’t get this multilingual gift so they could take Royal Carribbean’s nine
country cruise but so they could tell the gospel to the Jews who had come to
Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost who were speaking languages from all over
the world. This gift of speaking in a
foreign language was given to spread the gospel to people who wouldn’t have
heard it unless someone spoke it in their language.
Paul’s writings in the New
Testament talk about spiritual gifts and they’re always gifts to help spread
the gospel. I’m going to warn you that
in all my many days of reading the Bible, I’ve never found mention of a
spiritual gift that improves one’s golf swing.
You want my opinion why? Paul
says in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God's handiwork, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. Beating someone in golf doesn’t qualify as a
good work. It’s not wrong, and I’m an
avid sports fan, but it doesn’t spread God’s message otherwise everyone who
wanted to be a better golfer would come forward this morning to be prayed over
with the Spirit.
Spiritual gifts are meant to give you an ability that you
couldn’t earn or learn on your own. It’s
a gift that is meant solely to bring glory and honor to God, not yourself. It’s a gift that you can’t buy but you can
give it away.
Look at I
Corinthians 11 beginning at verse four.
4 “There
are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and
in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good”.
The word manifestation is a term often used in New Age circles to refer to the belief that one can by force
of will, desire, and focused energy, make something come true on the physical level.
In the Matrix film it meant being able to bend a spoon just by thinking
it. There was an Indian guru Sathya Sai
Baba who is famous for allegedly manifesting objects out of thin air.[1]
In the Bible manifestation means
something is apparent to the senses, especially to the sight; distinctly
perceived; obvious
to the understanding; apparent to the mind; easily apprehensible; plain; not
obscure or hidden. In other words it’s
something that can be experienced with the senses by everyone around it.
When you come into our church
sanctuary what is manifest or obvious to you in that room is a large cross on
the wall. We could say the cross is
manifest because we can see it. Another
thing that is manifest in this room today is my presence. My voice can be heard. My face can be seen.
We say things like “God is here” or “God is manifest”. That means God’s presence can be felt and
seen. But God’s presence is not manifest
or experienced by everyone. Some of you
might be sitting there saying I feel so close to God in this service that I
could almost touch him. Others see and
feel nothing. God is not manifest or
obviously present for everyone.
Often I’ll ask someone if they want to be filled with
God’s Spirit. So I lay hands upon them
and pray for their filling of God’s Spirit.
The next question I ask is “Do you feel any different?” Usually they don’t. But prayers do not return unanswered. So something takes place. Something happens that will eventually be
evident to those around us. If you are filled
with God’s Holy Spirit you will display or manifest certain new attributes.
One time we bought a brand new Nissan
Altima without air conditioning. In the
negotiation we said we would buy the car if air conditioning was added. The dealer agreed but they said we would have
to bring the car back the next week since it was already the weekend when we
bought it. We drove the car that first
weekend without air conditioning and took it back on Monday. When we picked it up that night we didn’t
even look in the engine to see if they had added the a/c unit but when we
turned on the air conditioning it manifested cold air. Our car was now equipped with air
conditioning.
In a similar way when you are
filled with God’s Spirit you will manifest something new. In the chapters ahead we will look at what
you should expect from being filled with God’s Spirit.
In summary a spiritual gift is a God given ability to do
something that will glorify God and bring others to Christ. You can’t earn it, you can’t learn it and you
surely can’t buy it. It’s a gift by God to glorify God. It’s a gift given to all believers in Jesus
Christ who are baptized and receive the filling of God’s Holy Spirit.
If you have a desire to know Christ better and to help
others know Christ better then there are spiritual gifts waiting for you to
discover and use. First accept Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior. Jesus
Christ is God’s provision for our sin.
In him we have complete forgiveness.
Then come for prayer and receive the filling of God’s Holy Spirit. If you haven’t been baptized yet we’d be
happy to teach you what that means and to baptize you. You are called to glorify God. You are equipped for your specific
calling. Go pick up your spiritual
equipment. Amen.
There
is a belief among followers of Christ called Cessationism
which claims that these gifts ceased to operate (through individuals) early in
Christian history. Its counterpart Continuationism claims that they still
operate today. Continuationism is the official practice of the Presbyterian
Church, USA.*
Listing of the Gifts
*In Christian
theology,
cessationism is the view that the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as tongues,
prophecy
and healing,
ceased being practiced early on in Church history. Cessationists usually
believe the miraculous gifts were given only for the foundation of the Church, during
the time between the coming of the Holy Spirit
on Pentecost,
c. AD 33 (see Acts 2) and the fulfillment of God's
purposes in history, usually identified as either the completion of the last
book of the New Testament or the death of the last Apostle.[2]
**"Speaking in tongues" and "interpretation of tongues"
are sometimes viewed as one gift, "tongues". The TNIV Bible footnote
has "languages" as a possible translation for "tongues".
Daily Bible
Monday Ephesians 2:1-10
For
what purpose did God give us grace?
v.5-10
Try
memorizing verses 8-9 of this important passage or at least where it can be
located in the Bible.
Tuesday Acts 2:1-13 List the responses of the people
to the followers of Christ speaking in foreign tongues. Compare that to responses people have to
miracles today.
Wednesday I Corinthians 12:1-11
List the spiritual gifts that you have either
experienced yourself or have observed in others.
What gifts do you have the most difficulty with? Why?
Thursday Ephesians
What’s the
end result product of some people having the spiritual gifts to be apostles,
prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers?
Where and
how do you see that end result taking place as a result of those gifts?
Friday I Peter 4:1-11
What’s the connection between Christ suffering in his
body and our attitude? v.1
What’s the connection between Christ’s suffering and
how we should use our gifts? vs. 10-11
Saturday Psalm 121
Picture God sending you out on a seemingly scary assignment after equipping you with what you need to be successful. Personalize this Psalm and pray it back to God three times.