Turning Charismatic
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We are just finishing up our birthday season. We have Christmas, then Nancy and Grace’s birthdays are in January, and David’s and mine are in February.
That makes for a lot of gifts being given in two months. The kids have been thrilled. I am looking at the house, wondering what we are going to do with all the stuff. One of these days, we are going to have a Boxing Day, where we box up all the stuff that we don’t use and bring it to the Bargain Box.
But, that will be when my life slows down, as in Not during Birthday Season.
Why do we give gifts to each other? There are many different reasons why.
But, I love the look in the eyes of my kids when they open up a present and are so thrilled about it. Then, for the next few weeks, my heart is warmed when they use those gifts. Sometimes, the gift is something fun. Sometimes it is something useful, or character building. Sometimes, it is both. But, I always enjoy seeing that look and seeing them use it.
The Bible says that God gives us gifts, through his spirit. Sometimes, we talk about them. Sometimes, we don’t. When we do talk about them, fewer times do we actually discuss the “why”.
Well, today, we are going to talk about them.
Let’s read the passage:
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 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.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Today, we are going to see that the Holy Spirit produces gifts in all believers to glorify our God.
Will you pray with me?
1. The Holy Spirit
1. The Holy Spirit
Let’s first talk about the Holy Spirit.
Paul writes:
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
Paul cares about this congregation, and he does not want points of doctrine to fall through the cracks. Literally, the text says: about the things of the Spirit, brothers I do not want you to be uninformed.
We are a non-denominational church, focused on studying the Word of God. Unfortunately, like so many churches similar to us, we neglect the things of the Spirit, so often. We don’t teach them. We don’t pursue them. Many times, because spiritual things worry us. We have a hard time with something we don’t see.
But, let’s not be uninformed.
A. Who Is the Holy Spirit
A. Who Is the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity.
This passage is used a lot in talking about the Trinity.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. All equally and completely God, but distinct from each other, having different functions.
When we pray, we pray to the Father, through Jesus by the Spirit.
This passage talks about gifts that God works in each believer through Jesus by the Spirit.
The Trinity at work.
Well, who is the Holy Spirit. It is the third person of the Trinity. Gifted to each believer on the moment of faith.
Jesus promised this Spirit, before he died.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
This Holy Spirit equips us to live the life of a follower of Jesus.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
Put simply, the Holy Spirit empowers the believer, by giving life and by giving the ability for service. It purifies, by convicting the world of sin, by bringing salvation, and by sanctifying the believer. It reveals truth to prophets and apostles, it reveals evidence of God’s presence. It guides and directs God’s people. It gives assurance. It teaches and illuminates. It unifies. It gives stronger or weaker evidence of the presence and blessing of God. And it gives specific gifts for the purpose of all of the above.
I would give scriptural evidence of all of that, but I don’t have the time. Ask me if you want it.
The Holy Spirit is the first fruits and the guarantor of the full manifestation of God’s presence that we will know in the new heavens and the new earth.
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
The Holy Spirit is given to everyone who believes at the moment of faith.
Jesus promised that in the verses in John.
We see the fulfillment of this throughout the book of Acts, in addition to our own lives.
The Holy Spirit is someone we can rely on to do all that he was promised to do.
2. Produces Gifts
2. Produces Gifts
We are going to narrow in one of all the many things the Holy Spirit does to help us.
The Holy Spirit produces Gifts.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
In this passage, Paul lists 9 gifts of the Spirit. We could read 1 Peter 4 and see another list. We could read Romans 12 and read another list. We could read 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 and see another list.
None of these lists are all inclusive, and when you compile the lists, they do not contain individual things that are gifted by the Spirit, like celibacy, because no one wants to talk about that.
Paul, Peter, and the author human authors of the Bible never focused on giving a comprehensive list of Gifts of the Spirit, because there is no comprehensive list.
I appreciate how the NIV translated this passage:
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
Each gift is a manifestation, a showing of the presence of the Spirit, a result that he is working in us at a specific period of time.
Now, as I said, the list of gifts or manifestations here in 1 Corinthians 12 are not comprehensive. But, I would not be a good pastor if I just glossed over them, because there is a lot of misconceptions and false teaching about them.
I am going briefly discuss them, and then in May, we will dive into three of the most controversial.
Of this list, most of the giftings are in pairs, because the Body of Christ never worked separately.
The message of wisdom, in the terminology of Paul, is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul uses wisdom as the way of the Gospel. The message of knowledge is how to live according to the Gospel. That’s the focus of the book. For Paul, everything goes back to the Gospel and how to reflect Jesus with our lives. Anything that detracts from that should be thrown out.
The gift of faith is the ability of those in the community to believe God in how he is working, specifically in how he is working to heal someone. Which is the next gift. Sometimes, God works through the prayer of his people and the faith of others, to heal another who is sick.
The gift of miraculous powers could be considered healing, but there is more. God works through the prayers of his people to send rain and to hold it back, to produce water in wells, etc.
The gift of prophecy is more controversial. Scripturally, prophecy is speaking the message of God. The prophet confronted the people of this world, whether followers of God or not, about their lives. Telling them what it means to live godly and the consequences for not living godly. Sometimes, the prophet used future predictions to give support to his message, but the focus of the prophet was never the future, but the present, calling people to follow God.
The gift of distinguishing spirits is parallel with prophesy. This is for those who are listening to a proclaimed prophet, to know whether the prophesy is inspired by the Holy Spirt or by another spirit.
Finally, speaking in different tongues. Ha! As I said, prophesy and tongues, with their corresponding gifting will be explored more in depth in May, as we study 1 Corinthians 14, which is all about prophesy and tongues.
But, briefly, without spending too much time, tongues can be defined as a language of the unconscious, but a language capable of consciousness. The speaker does not understand what they are saying, but it is something that can be interpreted. Which is why the corresponding gift is given: the interpretation of tongues.
Three things to note:
1) Many people place miracles, prophesy, and tongues into a category marked: Sign gifts. In Acts, these gifts were used to provide proof of the message of the Apostles and missionaries, that the Gospel is real. Some churches believe that these sign gifts ceased as the New Testament scriptures were completed and their authority became established. It is interested that these sign gifts are seen around the world today in civilizations that do not have a generally received version of the Bible. We will talk about this issue when we discuss 1 Corinthians 13 on March 19th.
2) Gifts are not given to someone permanently. Some churches teach that the Holy Spirit gives each believer gifts at the moment of salvation and those gifts remain throughout their life. This is not true. The Holy Spirit gives manifestations to help a believer at certain periods of their life to do what they are supposed to do. You might be able to pray one day for someone’s healing and God heals them. The next, you pray for someone else, and they don’t get healed. You might be able to teach for a certain part of your life. Then, you don’t teach. Specific gifts for specific times of life.
3) Gifts are are not self-proclaimed. No where in the Bible does someone get up and say: I have this gift. The gifts are always recognized by others in the church, and the person is encouraged to use them. Or, the person uses the gift without knowing it.
The Holy Spirit produces gifts.
3. In All Believers
3. In All Believers
It goes without saying that the Holy Spirit only gives these gifts or manifestations to believers.
The Corinthians went farther. They said that only certain believers had the Holy Spirit, because only certain believers manifested the gifts that the Corinthians cared about, namely: knowledge, wisdom, and tongues.
The Corinthians said that if someone didn’t have knowledge, wisdom, or tongues, they didn’t have the Holy Spirit.
Unfortunately, there are several churches who believe the way the Corinthians did. They believe that if you do not manifest certain gifts, many of them say tongues, you do not have the Holy Spirit. This is wrong.
Paul writes:
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
The Holy Spirit distributes different gifts to everyone. Everyone has his working in them.
You might say: well, how do you know? Because if we are saved, we have the Holy Spirit working in us.
Look at the first several verses of this chapter:
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 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.
We will talk about verse 2 later. Look at verse 3.
The phrase “Jesus is cursed” is a Jewish phrase, pulled from:
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
And
you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Those who said: “Jesus is cursed” were not cursing Jesus. They were stating a fact. Jesus was cursed, because he hung on the cross.
The thing is, anyone at that time could say it. It took no faith. No belief. Someone could attend church, declare themselves a Christian, confess that Jesus died on the cross. But, that did not mean they were saved.
No, only the confession: “Jesus Is Lord” revealed the state of someone’s heart. This is a triumphal statement of faith that Christ is exalted over a hostile world. It takes It is a statement that Jesus is savior and God, our only hope.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Paul says, that confession “Jesus is Lord” can only be done by the regenerative and sanctified power of the Holy Spirit.
If we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ, that all our hope is in him alone, if we are able to declare that Jesus is our savior and God, the one whose name is above every name, before whom all the world will bow, then we are showing the presence of the Spirit in our life.
If it is in our life, it will produce the gifts in us.
The Holy Spirit produces gifts in all believers
4. For the Glory of God
4. For the Glory of God
We finally get to the purpose of the gifts:
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
The Holy Spirit creates in us these abilities so that we can help each other.
Unfortunately, with so many churches that teach the gifts of the Spirit, the focus is on the gift, trying to figure out what gift I have and then waving it around for all to see.
The focus is on the gift so often.
But, it is not so much a matter of having a gift, as of being a gift.
God has given us abilities, things that we can do, so that we can work for the good of each other and the good of the community.
So, instead of waving around our gift, trying to draw attention to ourselves. We are called to work for the common good.
On the flip side, there are those who have gifts of the Spirit, because it gives them to all of us, and we are not using them. We are feeling nudges by the Holy Spirit, but we ignore them. We have been approached by fellow Christians to help in certain ways, but we are uncomfortable with those things, maybe even using the exegetically false statement “That’s not my gift.”
Unfortunately, when we do not respond to the call of the Spirit, whether through our conscience or through the church, someone is not being helped. The Spirit has given us gifts for the common good. He has given me gifts to be used for the good of someone else. If I do not use those gifts to help that person, that person will not be helped.
How selfish are we to sit back and refuse to help someone who is needy because “that is not my gift” or “I am uncomfortable doing that” or “I don’t have the time” or whatever excuse that we want to give the Spirit that is indwelling us and calling us to serve him.
Not only are we being selfish, but we are declaring that we do not believe God to be who he is. He declared that he would equip us for our tasks, that he would give manifestations to help those around us. But, if we selfishly refuse to trust him to help us, we are declaring that he is a liar and therefore not truly God.
Well, that was harsh.
When we trust in God, believing that he will produce in us gifts to do what he has called us to do, he is glorified. Because through our actions and our words, we cannot help but declare what is happening is only because of his work in our lives, not because of anything we have done.
Two weeks ago, I preached a sermon on the Lord’s Supper. Many people were touched and encouraged by that sermon. That wasn’t me. That was God working through me. That was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit works, Jesus is glorified. That is the ultimate sign of the Spirit’s activity. He works to exalt Jesus as Lord.
There are some people who are so caught up in the gifts of the Spirit, that they forget the end result is to exalt Jesus Christ.
Whatever takes away the exaltation of Jesus, even if it is a legitimate expression of the Spirit, begins to move away from Christ to a more pagan fascination with spiritual activity as an end in itself.
Oh, how tempting it is for us as humans to start to worship the creation rather than the creator.
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
We are so messed up that we are willing to take even the manifestations of the Spirit, the gifts, and begin to worship them instead of the God who gives the gifts.
God forgive us. He meant these for the common good and for his glory. But, we have often denied both by not using them or by exalting them.
When used correctly, they always point back to him.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
To them be glory, now and forevermore, amen.
The Holy Spirit produces gifts in all believers for the glory of God.
Next week, we will discuss how all these gifts create unity.