Spiritual Gifts

Growing up…can we all agree that for most in this room, Christmas morning represented probably the best morning you would have.

Even for those that grew up in homes that could not provide lots of presents, there was generally at least one gift…and that gift meant a lot.

I know that in my home…we love Christmas time first and foremost to celebrate the Advent of Christ…Jesus coming to earth to take on flesh…

But we also loved Christmas as a kid because it meant….[let audience say it ] presents…

We give presents because Christ was a gift…

Now…you might be the scrooge who doesn’t like to get gifts…but there is probably a reason for that…

• Maybe you didn’t want to pay…

• Maybe you didn’t like the attention…

But I think that it is a universal thing to say that receiving gifts… especially gifts that are well thought out…gifts that are going to make your life more enjoyable…getting a gift like that…means a lot.

This morning…we are going to be studying Gifts…more specifically…Spiritual gifts…

Hope for Everyday Life has been our theme this year…and we just finished studying Love last week…which came from our anchor passage of 2 Pe. 1.

In our series of hope for fruitful service, we have just finished studying seven different kinds of fruit that the apostle Peter said followers of Jesus Christ need to be diligent to grow in.

Peter gives us two reasons to be diligent in growing in these various qualities. [Read 2 Pe. 1:9-10]

• He says we will be fruitful if we grow in these qualities.
  
  

• He says that if we are not growing, then we will be so nearsighted that we will be blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Reason one is the main emphasis of our recent sermons….

We want to be fruitful!!

We want to continue this series of being a Faithful Servant who is growing in hope…but we are now going to pivot to studying Spiritual Gifts….because the Gifts that are given to the church will help be fruitful servants of God….

For our main passage, we are going to be spending time in Romans 12:6-8 [READ]

However, since we are going to be doing that…instead of trying to unpack the entire concept of spiritual gifts in the next few sermons…we are going to do an introductory sermon today on the entire topic.

This message aims to set up and frame the next five sermons about specific spiritual gifts that the New Testament mentions.

Understanding Spiritual Gifts in the Bible

• What is a spiritual gift?

• Who gets spiritual gifts?

• When does a person receive spiritual gifts?

• What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?

• Are all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament still active today?

Instead of having one key passage that we are going to look at…what we are going to do is jump around the Bible…. rarely at Faith do we do a true topical sermon…and for good reason.

[talk about normal preaching at Faith]

But we are going to do that today so that we can make sure we are all on the same page going forward.

I. What is a spiritual gift?

Now, there are a lot of places that we could turn to study what the gifts are…but I think that this passage from one of the longer sections on Spiritual Gifts is a good place for us to start…

1 Cor. 12:1,4-7,11 — Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware...4 Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God works all things in all persons. 7 But each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good...11 But the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

Now…if you are still struggling with the question of what a Spiritual Gift is…then let me provide a definition that comes from a few scholars that will help us answer that question…

ANSWER: Gifts of grace, for God’s glory, granted by the Holy Spirit that are designed for the church’s edification.

Let’s start by breaking that down a bit. First, Gifts are Gifts….

When something is a gift… that means it is not something that you earned…and it is not something that you worked hard to get.

When you received those Christmas presents…your parents might have said things like, “If you are good…then you will get XYZ.”

At your workplace, if you do some sort of task…perhaps not take a sick day in five years…you might receive some sort of gift from you company…but in those situations…you did something.

….

If that is the case…then it may not always be best to call it a gift.

True gifts are not earned because of work…they are given out of love.

When you read and see that persons have Gifted in the Bible…you should see that it is by God’s Good Grace…not something that the person did.

That is important to remember since so many of us see a gifting…and we automatically assume it had something to do with how amazing that person is.

Do you guys know who Zach Edey is?? He is that incredibly tall center for Purdue. He is 7’4” …there is only one reason folks care about his basketball skills…. he is super tall.

If he were 5’6” …he would not be on Purdue’s team.

But because of the gift that he was given of being one of the Anakim… (a bit of a Bible joke there) he has a basketball career.

Can Zack Edey go around and boast about his gift?

Sure, he can…but he ought not to.

Paul would put it this way in 1 Cor. 4:7 —"What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

So, when it comes to gifts…they are gifts…

Next…they come from God and are primarily for his Glorification.

God’s glory means the ---the revelation of God’s infinite holiness that results in his praise.

The gifts were all about revealing who God is…what God is doing… and in doing that…God is getting praise.

He gets praise, by the giving of Gifts…because the church is built up. By giving the church gifts…God…looks…good.

So, what is a Spiritual Gift?
Gifts of grace, for God’s glory, granted by the Holy Spirit that are designed for the church’s edification.

Then, then next question for us is…

II. Who gets spiritual gifts?

Let’s see what God’s word has to say about that…

Rom. 12:6a — Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, we are to exercise them accordingly...

Eph 4:7. — But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

1 Pe 4:10 — As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

The clear implication from these verses is that every single believer gets spiritual gifts. What isn’t clear is how many. We may, with confidence, say that each believer receives at least one spiritual gift.

ANSWER: Every believer.

Now…I am sure some of you are rolling your eyes right now…when God gave out the gifts…he skipped me.

That is not true…You did receive a gift.

This brings us to an important question….do you know what your gift is?

If we believe that each person here has received a particular spiritual gift…that is given by God…then I would say that it’s important that you know what it is.

The interesting thing about knowing if you have a gift is…there are no clear instructions on how to do this.

There are all sorts of tests that folks offer that can tell you what your gift is…but none of that actually comes from the Bible.

So then…if you don’t know what your gift is…how do you come to know what it is?

I would say three ways:

First, you will have to just try stuff out.

Second, you will find that you are…well…getting better at it naturally…and you really enjoy it.

Thirdly, others will confirm what your gift is. Let’s walk through that really quickly.

• When you are starting to consider what your gifting from the Spirit is…some of it will be trial and error. I know that for me…when I consider where I believe my giftings are…some were things that would come naturally to me…and I just had to put my foot in.
  
  

• But as you do that…there are going to be things that you find you are naturally good at…but even if it is not natural…it will be something you enjoy doing and improving in.
  
  I believe that, by the grace of God…I have the gift of administration. However, if you would have met college-aged Josh…I’m not sure you would have agreed that I have that gift.

I think that there are some elements that were present there…but it had not budded and matured…which brings me to my third point…others will concur.

If you say you are a gifted teacher and want to teach, but everyone is more confused after you train, that’s not your gift.

But if you teach, and people affirm your clarity, thoughtfulness, and excellent teaching, then that is a good indication that you may be gifted in that area and should pursue with diligence growing that spiritual gift.

If I thought that I had the gift of making a beautiful melody to the Lord…and I started to sing up here…you folks would be well within your right to say…Josh…you do not have that gift…

The gift must be affirmed.

One more note…just because you don’t enjoy something, does not mean that it is not a gift that you have. I tend to think that gifts often correlate with enjoyment…but that is not always true.

Let’s make sure that we do not believe that emotions are the sole ruling factor in determining if something is our gift.

The next thing we need to consider then, if we all have gifts, and we know what they are is…

III. When does a person receive their spiritual gift?

Is a spiritual gift more like a driver’s license …or is it more like your DNA?

Meaning, you only get your driver’s license after you are old enough and mature enough…when God doesn’t think you are going to use that gift to hurt someone.

Or is it something that you have from the beginning? Let’s look at God’s word….

1 Pe 4:10 — As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

1 Co 12:11 — But the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

I think that the answer is clear…

ANSWER: At the moment a person trusts in Jesus Christ and received the Holy Spirit.

[TALK ABOUT THE GOSPEL—D/B/R OF Jesus.]

Now…there is an important caveat that we just don’t have time to consider much this morning…and quite frankly, I’m not sure that scripture addresses.

While we know that everyone has some gift…and that you get that particular gift at your conversion…does that mean that more gifts might come later…or what you get is what you got.

I think the Scripture is silent on this…and there is no convincing argument that silences the other side…we just don’t know.

But what we do know is that if you trusted in the D/B/R of Christ…then you have received at least one gift…and you received that at the moment of new Birth.

I hope that as you consider the truth that each and every Christian in this room has a gift…I hope that would give us moment to pause and praise God.

The truth is that God did not have to do this for us. God did not have to gift his Church anything more than he already did.

Right…he gave us Christ…I think if God said…look, I gave you Jesus…you figure out the rest…I think we would all agree…yeah…that is a fair deal for sure.

But, just pause and consider how loving, how kind…how awesome your Heavenly Father is…not only did he ensure that you have salvation…but he wanted you to have gifts…

I hope and pray that we just marvel at the love of our Lord as we consider…

IV. What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?

I would like to put forward two primary purposes that God has given gifts to his church.

The first is this…

Building up the Body
Eph 4:12a — for the equipping of the saints for the work of service

One of the common metaphors that is used to describe the church is a building that is being built.

We see it, for example, in 1 Cor. 3 where Paul talks about how he laid a foundation as a “wise-builder”

Elsewhere in the Bible we are God’s temple. The building metaphor is a common one to describe not only what we are…but what is happening.

One of the best ways to understand so much of the ministry of the church is to think about it through the lens of building…

When myself or one of the other pastors up here is speaking to you…studying the Bible…what are we trying to do???

We are trying to build up the body.

When you are in a small group…and I hope that you are…what is happening in the small group…we are trying to build on what is there…the foundation…

The point is…the building metaphor is common in the Bible…and that is one of the reasons that gifts are given to the church…to build it up…to strengthen…to edify it.

Praise God that when we look around here…we see so many folks doing just that. They are using their gifts to build up the body.

They could be using their gifts in so many ways…but they want to use them first and foremost to build up the body.

Let me ask you for a moment…when you consider your gifts…are you using them to build up the body?

We will, at the end of the sermon, discuss what at least are the gifts that are directly mentioned in the Bible…but just ask yourself for a moment…for the gift that God has given to you…are you using it for the building up of the church?

It would be easy to burry that gift and only use it for yourself…to use it for your own pleasure or to make money.

It would be my hope and prayer that as we consider what the Bible has to say about the gifts…that you would consider if you are using your gifts to the building up of the church.

Gifts are also given for ….

Bringing unity to the church

Eph 4:13 — until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Christ promised that he would give unity to the church. He gave us peace with God and peace with each other.

Part of the way that unity is given to the church is by the using of our gifts to serve one another.

When the world looks at the Church today, more than ever, it should see a group of people who are in community that just doesn’t make sense.

They should see white collar and blue collar.

They should see folks from different ethnicities, ancestories, socio-economic groups, politics, age groups and so on….

And, by the grace of God…that is what folks see when they come to Faith West. We have a diverse community that has unity.

When you think about the congregation that we have not just here at Faith West, but with the other campuses as well…it’s something to praise God for.

One of the ways that we maintain the unity that we have with each other is by using the various gifts that we have been given by God to serve each other…and in doing that we build unity together.

When you think about the gifts that God has entrusted to you…are you using those gifts to build up the body of Christ…and using those gifts to unify the church?

It would be so very easy for any one of us to think we are all that and a bag of chips…and if we did that…then we would lose the precious unity that God has given to us.

Lastly, then, let’s ask the questions…

V. Are all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the NT active today?

First, let me say one word of introduction before we talk about this question and how we are going to answer this.

I am sure that there are people in this room and at the other campuses that will disagree with what we are about to say.

Meaning, the answer to this question is not one that is dependent on salvation. If you want to be a member of Faith Church…you have to believe certain things…and live a certain way.

You have to believe that it is by grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone that you are saved.

There are certain truths that are central to the Christian Faith…and you have to hold to those.

Then there are other things that if you choose to believe…you can’t be a part of this church.

You can’t believe that you need to pray to Mary, the earthly mother of Christ…for the remission of your sins.

Or you can’t believe that all religions are equally valid…you just chose to believe in Christianity…but it doesn’t matter if you are a Muslim of Hindu…what matters is you be true to you.

So, in order to be a member of Faith, you have to believe certain things and then other things you can’t believe.

You also have to live a certain way as well.

You can’t take the view of sin…well, as long as I ask for forgiveness, that is OK…what I do doesn’t matter.

Now…I say all of that as a preface to say….that when it comes to how we are going to answer this question…this is a thing that you can believe differently than how I will answer the question, and to some degree, even act differently…and still be a member here at Faith.

So, if you find yourself disagreeing with me…and the formal position that Faith has…that is OK…you can hold to a different belief as long as you are not divisive about holding that belief.

Here is how we would answer the question….first by saying that there are two types of gifts generally talked about in the Bible…

Authenticating and Edifying Gifts

Now, what do we mean by authenticating verses edifying?

Go back to the days of Moses for a moment and the Exodus…what was the main way that Moses convinced everyone that he was speaking for God?

Did he sit down and have a logical argument with them?

Did he deliver a piece of paper to them?

No…he worked miracles that were meant to show that he was speaking on behalf of God.

When Elijah was on Mount Carmel, and he was calling the children of Israel to repentance…what did he do? He called down fire from heaven.

The point was…often the prophets who spoke for God had a confirming sign to the message that they were doing.

That sign was meant to authenticate the message that was being delivered.

It is actually why some folks get the point of Jesus’ healing ministry all wrong.
Jesus did heal a lot of people…but the reason that he did it was to confirm who he was

There is another class of gifts…gifts that are used for edification….the building up of the body…

Here is our long-awaited and promised chart.

Authenticating Gifts:

Edifying Gifts:

A few things about our chart above.

First, you can see that there are just some references…and that they are in the NT. This is a sermon…not a totally wholistic lecture and book.

Second, this just lists where the verses are talked about as being a gift…not examples of it. If we attempted to list Christ’s healing ministry…we would have quite a large chart.

Third, while this list generally represents what scholars agree on as the gifts…we should generally look at lists like this as being representative….not exhaustive.

If you notice that there are places where certain gifts are talked about and not others…and that is because, generally, when you encounter a list…more often than not…you are looking at an exhaustive list.

I have not said anything too controversial yet…I’ve saved that for the last thing that I am going to say 😊

Authenticating gifts were necessary until the completion of Scripture, but no longer.

1 Co 13:8 — Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

ANSWER: Not all spiritual gifts are active today because we have the completed Scriptures.

The point is…you might have a view on this that differs from me, and the position that our church holds on this.

That is OK. If you want to hold to that belief…that is OK. If you want to ask your pastors to explain why they believe what they believe, we would be happy to.

I also think it is fine for Christians to be friends with folks they disagree on this answer. This means, if you have friends who answer this question differently…that is OK.

This is not a “heaven” question.

We believe that those gifts are not for today because the mission is complete…we have the Bible.

We no longer need any special revelation from God…that is confirmed by miracles.

Now…that does not believe that miracles and God interacting in our world is done…rather…what we are saying is that no one person has this gift anymore.

If you hear a story of someone being cured of cancer and there is no medical explanation…that fits fine with what I am saying.

What I am saying is…the gift of healing… as we see in the early days of the church…no longer exists. It does not exist because the reason that it was needed is no longer valid.

Last thing to say about that chart…and the gifts…and then we are going to take communion….

We have said it before…but let’s remember that the goal of gifts is the build and to encourage…are you doing that?

If you are not…then I would encourage you to take time to consider…what is my gift…and how do I use that gift in the church.

If you are not using your gifts to serve the church…to serve fellow Christians…then you are living contrary to how God wants you to live.

As we reflect on the Gospel in a particular way this morning….I would encourage you ask God for clarity on how you may need to grow in using your gifts to the glory of his name.