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Spiritual Gift Survey
Sermon 2

Spiritual Gifts part 2

1 Corinthians 12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 And there are varieties of workings, but the same God who works everything in everyone. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to someone else faith [d]by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of [e]healing [f]by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the workings of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the [g]distinguishing of spirits, to someone else various kinds of tongues, and to another the [h]translation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For also [i]by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Well, in this morning’s message we continue a series of sermons that I will be preaching in response to the church health survey we did last year.  We started this series last week around the topic of discovering and using your spiritual gifts. 

And as we begin again today, let me try to illustrate the importance of each of us discovering and exercising our spiritual gifts.  I was reading this week about an Olympic event, the decathlon.  You probably know that the decathlon is a sporting event where participants start a race against each other that includes 10 different sports over two days.  The sports are

Day one events 

  • 100m: A sprint race over 100 meters
  • Long jump: A jump where athletes try to leap as far as possible
  • Shot put: A throw where athletes put a heavy metal ball as far as possible
  • High jump: A jump where athletes clear a horizontal bar at increasing heights
  • 400m: A sprint race over 400 meters, which is one full lap around the track

Day two events 

  • 110m hurdles: A sprint race over 110 meters with 10 hurdles spaced 9.14m apart
  • Discus throw: A throw where athletes throw a 2kg discus as far as possible
  • Pole vault: A vault where athletes sprint and use a pole to clear a horizontal bar at increasing heights
  • Javelin throw: A throw where athletes throw a javelin as far as possible
  • 1500m: A middle-distance race where athletes earn their final points

What’s amazing about this race is that each of these events are in themselves ones that individuals compete in.  And to designate an athlete as the best in the world at any one of these events is a high honor.  But to find an athlete who excels at all ten, is extraordinary indeed.  These individuals have trained their bodies and minds to a place of maximum output across ten different events.

Now let’s do a comparison here.  Paul tells us in Scripture that the church is the “body of Christ.”  He says that each individual in the church, exercising their gifts is like a human body where you have various functions, but all of it works together to accomplish God’s will. 

But often what we find in individual churches are bodies that may do one thing well.  They are like the athlete who trains themselves in the long jump.  That athlete becomes quite good at jumping really far.  But if you were to give that same athlete a discus, he couldn’t throw it very far. 

Most churches do really well in one or two areas.  But they usually falter when it comes to all the functions of the church.  The gifts are the functions of the church; teaching, preaching, serving, showing mercy, hospitality, shepherding.  But God’s purpose was that the church be like that decathlon athlete.  Each of its members of the body exercise their gifts to their maximum, so that at the end of the day, a church works like a well-oiled machine and excels in all the events.  That’s our aim, that our church not just win at single events like loving each other or worshiping together.  But we win the entire race including reaching lost people and exercising our gifts. 

Last week we began looking at the passage we just read, and in particular, verses 4 – 7.  And we were just laying a foundation of understanding the spiritual gifts before we start defining the gifts individually.  Today we will complete the foundation laid in 1st Corinthians and get started with the definitions.  And the reason we are doing this is so you can know your spiritual gifts and find a way to exercise them in our church and in your life. 

Here were the foundational truths that we laid out last week.

First, Every Christian has a Spiritual gift from God.  We just read the list of spiritual gifts in 1st Corinthians.  Romans 12 has another list that includes prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy.  But every Christian has a spiritual gift from God.

Paul says, in the passage we just read,

7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable.

11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one (every man) individually just as He wills.

13 For also [i]by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Second, the source of the spiritual gifts is God.  He gives you your gift when He gives you the gift of the Holy Spirit living in you at your salvation.  The Holy Spirit in you then begins working in you to produce things that you could not produce before you became a believer.

The third truth from last week was that there are varieties of gifts.  We often think of the Spiritual gifts in a very limited way.  But the passage we studied showed what a great diversity God has given to every individual Christian. Each gift is specially crafted for each individual believer and what God has designed you for.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, there are varieties of ministries, there are varieties of workings. 

We spent considerable time on this last time, but what I was trying to describe was that God makes a special recipe for each Christian, using the ingredients of the gifts, to make a spiritual gift for you that is unique to you, to the ministry that He has planned for you, for the type of work that you will be a part of.  So, your gift is like a mason jar with a mixture of ingredients.  You may receive a cup of the gift of service, a half cup of exhortation, a teaspoon of leadership, a dash of mercy.  But everybody has a different recipe.  So, there are vast variety of gifts.

The fourth truth concerned how many spiritual gifts there are.  If we go strictly from the lists in 1st Corinthians and Romans, and I forgot to mention Ephesians 4 last week.  This is what it says.

11 And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.

And there is another reference in 1st Corinthians that I didn’t read last week,

1 Corinthians 12:27-29 27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. 28 And God has [a]appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then [b]miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.

But depending on whose interpreting these passages, and how much overlap we determine there is between the lists, the number could be anywhere from 18 to some going as high as 27.  Now, the gift survey that I am going to have you do later has 16 gifts listed.  We’ll touch on that later.  But, as I said last week, our purpose is not to be able to slap a label on everyone, but to point you in a direction to begin exercising your giftedness.

Now, I mentioned something last week that I want to point out again this morning.  There are 3 categories of gifts; the sign gifts which are; healing, miracles, tongues and the interpretation of tongues.  The speaking gifts which are; the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, prophecy, teaching and evangelism.  The service gifts which are; giving, leading, mercy, discernment, and faith.  That’s generally what we covered last week, so before we continue let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

prayer

To start with I want to go back to the question “How many spiritual gifts are there?”   Because as many of you know, there is some disagreement about whether all of the gifts listed in Scripture are still active today.

Now notice this.  I said a moment ago that there are three categories of gifts; sign gifts, speaking gifts, and service gifts.  But are they all still gifts given by God today?  And you know which gifts I’m questioning; the sign gifts.  Is God still giving individuals in the church the gifts of healing, miracles, tongues and the interpretation of tongues.

Well, to begin answering that we need to go to Scripture.  There is something about these 4 epistles, where we found our list of gifts, that I want to point out.  There is something about the four epistles that is one point in this debate.  It is the understanding of when each of these epistles, 1 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians and 1 Peter were written.  As a point of reference, I want you to remember that Jesus was crucified around 33 AD.  2025 minus 33 makes it 1992 years ago.  So, how soon after Jesus’ death and resurrection were the epistles in our New Testament written?  1st Corinthians was most likely written in the 1st half of AD 55, Romans was likely written in the second half of AD 55, the 5th letter Paul wrote.  22 years after Jesus’ resurrection. The letter to the Ephesians was written around 60 to 62 AD.  27 to 29 years after Jesus’ resurrection.

Now, 1st Peter was likely written even further out, in AD 64 or AD 65, ten years after 1st Corinthians and Ephesians and 31 to 32 years after Jesus’ resurrection.   

Now why am I telling you this?  Because I want you to notice the differences in the lists of spiritual gifts.  Let me just read the list from each in order of when the epistles were written.

The earliest list of spiritual gifts is in 1st Corinthians 12.  And this is the list of gifts; the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues, and translation of tongues.

And from the verses later in that chapter we get apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, gifts of healings, helps, administrations, tongues.

Now this is the big thing that I want you to notice.  After the letter to the Corinthians, certain gifts are never mentioned again in the lists of gifts.

Late AD 55 Paul writes to the Romans, chapter 12. The listed gifts are prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy.

There’s no mention of any of the sign gifts.  And that’s curious because in chapter twelve he is teaching them concerning the spiritual gifts and using them in the church.  Let’s go 27 to 29 years after Jesus’ resurrection.

AD 60 to 62 the letter to the Ephesians is written.  4: 11 And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

Again, no mention of the sign gifts.  Let’s move forward in time to 31 to 32 years after the crucifixion.

AD 64 or 65 1 Peter 4:10-11 10 As each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God— 11 whoever speaks, [a]as one speaking the oracles of God; whoever serves, as one serving 

Now notice this.  I said there are three categories of gifts; sign gifts, speaking gifts, and service gifts.  But by late in the year 55 AD, Paul is not mentioning the sign gifts, when he is listing the gifts in the book of Romans.  In 60 to 62 in Ephesians he doesn’t mention them. And when we look at 1st Peter 4:10-11 10 years after 1st Corinthians and Romans are written it says

He mentions speaking gifts, and service gifts, but he doesn’t mention the sign gifts. 

1st Corinthians includes the sign gifts; healing, miracles, tongues.  But Romans, Ephesians and 1st Peter does not.  Now, to be fair, part of the reason for that is because the problems in the church at Corinth were different than the ones at the other churches.  One of the big problems in the Corinthian church was the abuse of the spiritual gifts.  They had a misunderstanding and malpractice in regard to the gifts, especially the gift of tongues.  They had elevated the gift of tongues as more important than all the other gifts.  So much so that speaking in tongues dominated the other gifts, even preaching.  And they were considering other gifts as spiritually inferior.  So, of course, Paul is going to talk more about sign gifts in his letter to Corinth.

And, also to be fair, if this was all the evidence we had that the sign gifts were for that first church and then passed, this would not be enough evidence if it was all we had. But it’s not all the evidence we have.  There is other Scriptural evidence, and there is evidence from history, and evidence from experience as well.  We’re not going to get into all of that today.  I am just trying to prepare you for the gift survey that we are going to take.

But I believe, and I believe Scripture bears this out, that the second reason why the sign gifts are not mentioned in Romans, Ephesians and 1st Peter is because they are sign gifts, and the sign gifts were beginning to go away. 

Did you know, for example that  the gift of tongues and its interpretation are never mentioned again in Scripture, after the book of Acts, and the epistles to the Corinthians in AD 55? 

And we will get into this more as our study unfolds, but the sign gifts were intended for the first generation of the church.  They were signs given to validate the message of the Messiah having broken into history.  And they were given primarily for the Jews. Listen to me carefully, I believe that the gifts of tongues, interpretation, being a healer, or miracle worker were sign gifts, and ceased after the age of the apostles.  Now, listen to what I am not saying.  I am not saying that God doesn’t heal or do miracles today.  He does.  But as to giving someone the gift to do those things, I believe it is passed.  And I believe it based on Scripture, history, and experience.

And the last point that we didn’t get to last week was; What is the purpose for the spiritual gifts?

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 And there are varieties of workings, but the same God who works everything in everyone. 

And listen to verse 7

7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for what is profitable.

Verse 7 is the important verse for this question.  The gifts are given “for what is profitable.”  But profitable to whom?  Well, we get an answer to that with another one of these words that is used as a synonym for gifts.

Another word for spiritual gift is services or ministries; it’s another term for it. it’s just a different way to say the same thing. it tells me the purpose of my gifts. What are my gifts for? Service. This same word exactly, the same word, the diakonos word in one form or another appears, for example, in this verse: “For the Son of Man,” Mark 10:45, “came not to be ministered unto but to,” – what? It’s the same word, “to serve, to serve.” What does it mean? It means to serve, to be a servant.  What does that mean?  It means that your gift was given to you so that you can serve others.  I tell you that this is one of those areas of ignorance in the church today. 

spiritual gifts, beloved, are not special privileges for the one who has them. My spiritual gift isn’t for my edification.

Let’s talk about that as an example.  I could pervert the purpose of my gift. I could go in my office and study and learn all the things that I learn and I could write out all the things, and I could get my little tape recorder there and I could preach it into a tape and then I could turn it on and listen to it. And I could say, “Amen, that really blessed me.  And I could never ever preach or teach what I have learned.

If I did that, then I would not be using my gift as God designed it; for service.

And that why it bugs me that so many so-called Christians today say- I watch church on T.V., or on live stream.  And I never darken the door of a local assembly.  Every Christian is given spiritual gifts.  They are given to them to build others up.  If they never meet with other believers, they have cut off the arm of the edification of the church. 

You see in 1 Peter you have the same thing.  Peter only mentions the categories of gifts.  And both categories have to do with ministering to other believers.  The gifts are for service, verse 10: “As every man has received the gift, even so serve the same one to another as good stewards.”

If you have one of the service gifts, then it is designed for use in serving others.

Verse 11: “If you speak, speak the oracles of God. If you have one of the speaking gifts, then use it by speaking.  Not to yourself, but for the building up of other believers. All the gifts are for somebody else.

They’re for building up others. Ephesians 4:12: “For the building of the saints that they may do the work of the ministry.” That’s its intention.

To drive home this point let’s look back at another synonym for gifts.

Now going back to 1st Corinthians 12:7

Let me give you a further thought. “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man for what is profitable.” Manifestation is another synonym for gifts. Now that is a simple word, and the word manifestation means to make clear, to make visible, to make known, to make manifest. It means the very opposite of to hide or to be private; it means to be public. What are the spiritual gifts then for? They are for the manifestation. They are to be a visible, clear manifest public display. That’s the idea.

You say, “Yeah, but maybe it’s only to be manifest to him.” Oh? Watch. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Christian for what is profitable.  That word profitable in Greek means “the common good.” That’s what sumpherō in the Greek means. It isn’t given for the individual’s good who has the gift.  It is given for the common good of the church. What’s your spiritual gift for? It’s to manifest the work of the Spirit to everybody that’s been gathered together.

Now here’s a sticking point with many churches.  My gifts are for the common good. Whatever the gift is it is to profit everybody. You say, “Well what about the gift of languages?” You know something? In chapter 14, he says, “don’t ever, ever use the gift of languages unless it’s,” what? “Interpreted.” Because even though it was a sign to unbelieving Israel, it had to be interpreted because that gave it another edifying element to the church. And no gift should be anything other than edifying to the people who are gathered together. That’s assumed in all the gifts.

Several years ago, two students graduated from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. The highest ranking student in the class was a blind man named Overton and, when he received his honor, he insisted that half the credit should go to his friend, Kaspryzak. They had met one another in school when the armless Mr. Kaspryzak had guided the blind Mr. Overton down a flight of stairs. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and a beautiful example of interdependence. The blind man carried the books which the armless man read aloud in their common study, and thus the individual deficiency of each was compensated for by the other. After their graduation, they planned to practice law together.

Gary Inrig, Life in His Body.

Well, that’s as far as we are going to get this morning.  Next week we will start immediately by listing and defining all the gifts including sign gifts, speaking gifts, and service gifts.  And this is my prayer.  That as we do so, you will begin to see yourself in some of those descriptions.  And the Spirit of God will encourage you to look for ways to exercise your Spiritual giftedness.