Understanding the Spiritual Gifts

Julius Kenya

Spiritual Gifts • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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The Gift of Faith and Leadership

Introduction

Recap of the previous two weeks

1. What are Spiritual Gifts?

Spiritual gifts are special abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of edifying (improving) the church

They are gifts - not payments or something one earns for being the “best Christians”

2. Cultural Concepts of gift giving

a. Gifts might mean different things from culture to the other

· In some cultures, gifts are an indirect way of asking for a favour

· In others, gifts are supposed to be reciprocated

3. The Spiritual gifts are absolutely free and unmerited

Spirtual gifts are received not earned

a. There is threefold reasons for Spiritual gifts

i. To equip God’s people for ministry

ii. For the edification of the church

iii. The God’s salvation mission to the world.

Last week started looking into specific gifts of the Holy spirit

· Blake took us through the gifts of a Pastor and Administration

Today: The gifts of Faith and Leadership

1 Cor 12:1–11

12 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. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, r and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

(The New International Version)

1 Corinthians 12:1–3

· Paul is writing to the Corinthian whose pagan background had made them so susceptible to being misled by supernatural manifestations.

· Paul told them how to identify those who spoke by the Spirit.

Paul seems to be responding to some very serious concerns that were probably raised by the Corinthians.

He did not reveal their precise concerns but stated clearly that he did not want them to be ignorant or unaware of this topic.

Paul created a familial mood by addressing the Corinthians as brothers

Paul’s outlook spoke powerfully to the Corinthian church because some believers felt that their particular gifts were more important than others.

Because all Christians are part of and necessary to the body of Christ, God blesses all Christians with gifts, ministries, and results.

Fact Checks

If a religious experience does not honor Christ as Lord, then it is not from the Spirit. If it does, then the Holy Spirit may be behind the experience.

Paul elaborated on the themes of unity, diversity, and distribution, first stating that God gives a manifestation of the Spirit to each person.

Every believer has some display of the Holy Spirit’s presence in his or her life.

Also, the manifestation (appearance) of the Spirit has a particular goal:

· The common good (cf. 1 Pet. 4:10).

· The gifts of the Spirit are not principally for the edification of the individuals who receive them, but for the good of all believers.

The Gift of Faith

1 Corinthians 12:9

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit

· Faith here is mentioned in context of public ministry within the church.

· The gift of faith is the special ability God gives certain members of the body of Christ to discern with extraordinary confidence, the will and purposes of God for his work.

· Each of us, in Christ, are given a measure of faith exercised in believing God for

salvation - forgiveness of our sins

sanctification - being made holy

regeneration - inner renewal by the Holy Spirit

baptism in the Holy Spirit etc.

but the focus of each of these centers upon ourselves, individuals

· The gift of faith, like all the other spiritual gift, is for the benefit of the entire church!

Often people with this gift are visionaries in a church

Seeing into the future, they envision what needs to done and what will take place, then they pray and plan for that vision, believing God to make it happen

They tend to have a ‘knowing confidence”

Application

· Special endowments of faith are important in the beginning of launch of a local church

· Usually, leaders of a new church plant tend to possess unusual faith when called to establish a new body of believers.

· Church planters need unusual, supernatural gifts of faith in operation; this is what drives vision

· It is probably the kind of “faith” that Jesus described as “faith as small as a mustard seed” (Matt. 17:20)—the strong conviction that God will move in one way or another in a specific circumstance.

Acts 27:21-25

· Apostle Paul demonstrates gift of faith in operation—he hears from God, he shares the vision of the future to those present, he encourages them to believe it, and proclaims his unswerving faith/belief in the direction and message he received from God.

A faith-gifted person is sure it will be—they just know it without any tangable proof

This gift is essential to the growth of any church because those who possess it, operate in it, infect others with belief and hope for the future;

their faith is a gift to the entire church

* if you have rare faith, a knowing confidence about God’s will and plan for certain area of ministry and vision in the church, you may indeed have a spiritual gift of faith.

· Though not everyone has a gift of faith, we must all grow in our capacity to believe God by exercising our ability to trust God in the absence of supportable, material evidence.

· Same is true for the gift of leadership;

Leadership

We can always improve at leading, but some have a special, God-given ability to lead others.

· This gift is also extremely essential in local churches

Romans 12:8

Apostle Paul gives some instructions to those with certain gifts to go ahead and use them. Rom 12:8

‘if a man’s (person’s) gift is leadership, let him/her govern diligently’

· There is a required diligence and intentionality possessed in leading; if you are a leader, lead!

· People, whether in church, families or in other social institutions, are looking for someone to lead them.

· What does the gift of Leadership entail?

The gift of leadership is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the church to set goals in accordance with God's purpose for the future and to communicate these goals to others in such a way that they voluntarily and harmoniously work together to accomplish those goals for the glory of God.

examples of leadership

Acts 7:10

- reminds us of the leadership of Joseph, who when he used his gift, led Egypt through seven years of famine.

Acts 15:7-11

- Apostle Peter, takes the initiative at the Council of Jerusalem; he convinces by the help of the Holy Spirit and authority, church leaders to accept evangelized Gentiles, without insistence upon the attachments of Mosaic law.

· We owe our Christian lives today to the obedient exercise of Peter’s gift of leadership.

· Peter unafraid, stood alone, taking a position no one else embraced and influencing others to go in God’s new and marvelous direction

Application

Those with this gift must lead with a servant’s heart

A Gifted leader must long to be servant leader

A servant leader is a leader compelled by the unshakeable desire to serve

In this context, a “leader” refers to one who has influence over others.

“Compelled” speaks to their “why,” or what is driving their choices and behavior.

“Unshakeable” suggests that this motivation is deeply embedded in their character, in what is below the ground, and isn’t just serving some superficial need.

“Desire to serve” refers to being motivated by selflessness, or a rejection of the “ME first” thinking that we so often see. This is a leader who humbly chooses to put others first to add value.

CONCLUSION

Every Gift Is a Blessing

We must establish proper attitudes toward every gift of the Spirit.

The Corinthians tended to exalt some gifts over others, but Paul urged them to recognize all gifts as the blessings of the Spirit of God.

PRINCIPLES to Remember

• Every Christian is a necessary, beneficial member of the church.

• Spiritual gifts are primarily for the purpose of building up the church.

• Because we are members of one another, the spiritual states of our fellow believers affect us personally.

• We do not receive spiritual gifts according to merit or ability, but as God sees fit according to his grace.

APPLICATIONS

• Loook for ways to use your gifts in the service of the church and encourage others to do so as well.

• Do not take pride in your spiritual gifts

• Do not feel inferior if your spiritual gifts are not as impressive as the gifts of others.