STUDY THEME: MANAGING GOD'S ASSETS. GIFTS TO USE.

1 COR. 12:1-7; 1 COR. 12: 8-11; ROM. 12:6-8 1-23-00

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO 1 CORINTHIANS 12.

Ch. 12 of 1 Cor. begins a new division of the Epistle to the Church at Corinth, written by Paul the Apostle from Ephesus about AD 54-57. In the Chs. 12 thru 14 the subject is the Gifts of the Spirit and the exercises of these gifts in the church.

Many church member have not yet discovered their spiritual gifts; and many who have, do not use their gifts as the Bible teaches. Some people are aware of special skills and talents, but they take credit for these rather than seeing them as gifts of God. They use their gifts in selfish ways rather than to help others and to glorify God. Spirit-led believers realize they have been gifted by God for the common good and they are to exercise individual gifts in cooperation and fellowship with people of different gifts.

The carnal nature of the church at Corinth is evident in that even gifts of the Holy Spirit had become a problem. They prided themselves on their possession of these gifts, but their attitude caused more divisions than unity. They centered their attention on the gifts that called attention to the one who possessed the gift.

The N.T. contains several lists of spiritual gift: Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:8-10, 28-30; and Eph. 4:11. Actually, Eph. 4:11 lists gifted leaders whom God had given to the church. When the lists of gifts and gifted leaders are placed in columns, only one gift is found in all of them--prophecy or prophets. Teachers are found in all but one. There is rich variety in the lists. Paul did not seem to have one official list of all spiritual gifts. He named representative gifts, in some cases (as in Corinth) concentrating on the gifts about which the church was most concerned. Thus the list in Romans 12:6-8 is probably the most general of the lists. First Cor. 1, 4-11 emphasizes that the Spirit is the source of spiritual gifts, that the purpose is the common good, and that the gifts are varied.

Paul wanted the Corinthians to know about the nature of spiritual gifts and that each person is gifted by the Spirit for the common good of all.

The Greek words in Vs. 1 translated now about or now concerning imply that Paul was answering questions about spiritual gifts. The questions likely came to him in the report of members of Chloe's household. A great deal of confusion existed in the church concerning spiritual gifts, and the church wanted Paul to clear the air. In Chs. 12-14 he dealt with the issue. Paul does not want them to be ignorant about the gifts which the H.S. gives.

To correct the abuses of gifts Paul shows in Ch. 12 that the purpose of the spiritual gifts is the edification of the church; in Ch. 13 that the way to exercise spiritual gifts is in love; and in Ch. 14 that the relative value of spiritual gifts is to be tested by their usefulness to the church. Chapter 13, the famous love chapter, is actually the apex and the center-piece of an extended discussion on spiritual gifts.

In Vs. 1 Paul was introducing the subject of the Holy Spirit and how He works in the body of Christ--the church. Vs. 2-3 seem out of place because they do not mention spiritual gifts. They reveal how the Corinthian Christians, when they had been pagan, had been led astray to "mute idols." They were enslaved in idolatry but by the H.S. they were able to confess Jesus as Lord. These verses, however, actually set up Paul's teaching that God is the source of spiritual gifts.

Paul reminded his readers that they were not the source of their salvation, God was. Apart from the Holy Spirit's power, they were unable to confess that Jesus is Lord. Paul's point was that the only way anyone could confess that Jesus is Lord was the by the Spirit's power. The Spirit gives us the new birth, a new nature, and His presence and power that move us to want to obey Him. When we experience salvation, it is not self-produced. Salvation comes from God.

Paul wanted the Corinthian believers to realize that what is true in salvation is also true with spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts do not come from us. We can not earn them or produce them. They come from God. In 1 Cor. 12:4-6 Paul explained that God's Spirit gives a variety of spiritual gifts to Christians. With three parallel statements Paul indicated that while different kinds of gifts, service and work exist the same Spirit, Lord, and God work them all in all believers.

Spiritual gifts are more than mere natural talents. They are divine enablements for the ministry that the H.S. gives in some measure to all believers and are to be completely under His control and used for the building of the church to Christ's glory. They are gifts bestowed by the H.S. on Christians to be used specifically for serving the Lord. All gifts are important because they are given by God as He chooses to give them. Everyone has a gift but no one has all the gifts.

The term service in Vs. 5 is related closely to the Greek word for servant. It describes the way spiritual gifts become real in practice. Now spiritual gifts are not earned by service; they are given for the purpose of service. Each person determines the effectiveness of their gifts or the lack of it. God calls Christians to serve one another. He gives different gifts according to the tasks He wants done and the people He wants to do them.

The Greek term translated working in vs. 6 stresses the divine power that flows thru believers as they use their spiritual gifts to serve others. The person working is not emphasized. The emphasis is that God does His work thru people. Though different ministries and gifts exist, God is the source of the power that makes them effective.

If God is the source of spiritual gifts, why did He give them to Christians? Paul wrote in Vs. 7 that God gave spiritual gifts to believers so He could work thru each member uniquely for the good of the whole church. The phrase "each one" means that every Christian has at least one gift. Paul had several of the gifts: healing, prophecy, and teaching, for example. Of course, he was an apostle, in reality God can give as many or as few gifts as He see fit, depending on the ministry He has called someone to perform. Each Christians does have at least one gift.

We cannot choose which gift we want to receive. It is God's prerogative to choose for us. While we are held accountable for the use of any gift the H.S. gives us, we have no responsibility for the gifts we are not given. There are many things I cannot do very well, but that is because I was not given that gift. Every believer has at least one gift which is uniquely his. Thank God for your gift.

The word manifestation in Vs. 7 does not move the subject away from gifts. Paul stressed that gifts ultimately are ways God's Spirit manifests His activity thru the church's members. The phrase the common good points to the ultimate purpose for believers having gifts. The gifts are not for personal glory or profit. God wants the entire church to be blessed and built-up. He could have done this any way He desired. Yet He chose to use people's serving one another as the channel of His grace thru them for the church's good. So God is the source of spiritual gifts, and He gave them for the church's common good. In Eph. 4:11 Paul named the ministry gifts--people gifted to accomplish God's purpose in Vs. 12.

In 1 Cor. 12: 8-11 Paul now turns to the discussion of "Kinds of spiritual gifts." These will be grouped into three categories: (1.) Speaking gifts, (2.) Service gifts, and (3.) sign gifts.

To understand the different kinds of service to which God calls believers, we need to see that He has given the church many different spiritual gifts. In Vs. 8 we begin our study of the "Speaking gifts". Notice the words "word of wisdom" or "wise speech", and "word of knowledge" or "intelligent speech". The Greeks especially cherished these two factors--wisdom and knowledge. The Corinthian Christians showed their cultural background. There was human wisdom and human knowledge, but these represent special gifts by the H.S. for the purpose of magnifying the gospel about the cross.

"Word of Wisdom" is more than philosophy. It is speech filled with God's wisdom in the Spirit. "Word of knowledge" is logical insight. When we abide in Jesus, we gain God's wisdom and insight into everday questions that people have about Christian living. Thus the message of wisdom is the Spirit's enabling believers to understand and to declare God's eternal purpose in Christ. Practically, it helps Christians see how God fulfills His eternal purpose in the everday situations believers encounter.

The Spirit gives the message of knowledge for the benefit of the Christian community. Thus the message of knowledge is the Spirit's enabling people to know God deeply thru His Word and to share that knowledge.

In Vs. 9 we look at the "Service gifts." A third gift is "faith". The word "faith" in this context denotes working faith, not saving faith. This is an extraordinary type of faith that enables one to do extra ministry for Christ. This is the kind of faith that Jesus said would move mountains. Thru a believer's exercise of faith, others are encouraged to trust God.

The word "healings" may or may not refer to medical practices, or even to what faith healers do, but may refer to a ministry of serving sick people and helping them to gain their health and to have hope in times of illness. You probably know Christians who are especially gifted in this area. I was reading where one Dr. said to another "you moved up the schedule on that surgery. Why? Was it an emergency? "Oh yes," the other doctor replied, "In a few more hours she would have recovered without the surgery."

In Vs. 10 Paul turned to the "Sign gifts." There are five spiritual gifts named in this verse. "Miracles" or "wonder workers" is literally God's power expressed thru another. in this context it is "Power working wonders" or "miraculous deeds" by those so gifted by God. Since not all miracles are healings; such miracles might include casting out demons as well as other mighty works. The word power emphasizes the display of God's mighty power in the miracle.

The word "prophecy" does no simply refer to predicting future events, but rather to the proclamation of the gospel or the ability to preach with power.

The "discerning of spirits" refers to the ability to distinguish between the spiritual utterances, as if to know whether they were from God or not. The ability of judging between gifts or spirits to see if they are of the H.S. or of some nature or diabolical force. Believers with this gift are mature or spiritually sensitive, able to discern between true or false teachings. The first test of a true teacher is they acknowledge or proclaim that Jesus is God incarnate in human flesh.

Dr. W.B. Toler says "The words "divers kinds of tongues" appear to refer to estatic languages, but may refer to foreign languages.

Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs says "tongues" was then, is even now the subject of much misunderstanding and confusion. The Greek word "Glossa" is used for the organ of speech, languages, or here as a gift of the H.S. You can see why its interpretation is a bit confusing.

Dr. Hobbs continues, "all but Pentecostals see "tongues" at Pentecost in Acts 2:4-11 as the gift of the H.S., whereby the apostles, perhaps others, were able to speak a language other than their own without having studied it. People from sixteen parts of the Roman Empire outside Palestine were present at Pentecost. if they were led to receive Christ, they would carry the Gospel to their own lands."

Therefore the H.S. enabled the apostles to speak "with other tongues" or "languages" of a different kind than their own. Acts 2:11 says that these people heard the gospel in "our tongues." Acts 2:6 reads that "every man heard them speak in his own languages: or dialect. Dr. Hobbs says "some interpreters see tongues at Corinth as a heavenly language spoken in an ecstatic state. I see it as the same phenomenon as at Pentecost, except that the Corinthians regarded the gift with spiritual pride. They abused this gift as they did all other gifts of the Spirit. The gift of tongues is not intended to glorify the one possessing the gift.

"Interpretation of tongues" was the gift whereby some interpreted what was spoken for those who did not understand the language. Whereas some regarded the gift of tongues as the supreme gift, in all of Paul's lists of spiritual gifts that included tongues, he placed that gift last (here along with the interpretation.) Apparently the apostle regarded it as least important.

Vs. 11 deals with the "Authority of the Spirit." While there were many different kinds of gifts, there is only one H.S. The Spirit had to give and use all these gifts, and notice it was according to the will of the Spirit that they were given.

In some Christian groups individuals are urged to seek certain gifts, especially tongues. This is contrary to Vs. 11b. The H.S. distributes Spiritual gifts to Christians "as He wills" or "wishes." Whatever gift He chooses to give is to be used in the Lord's service and for His glory.

PLEASE TURN IN YOUR BIBLE TO ROMANS 12.

Writing to the believers in Rome Paul urged his readers to use their different gifts to God's gracious purpose for each gift.

In the Bill Gothard's seminar we attended in Ok. City he named the seven motivational gifts located in Romans 12:6-8: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leadership and showing mercy. We also learned about the ministry gifts listed in Eph. 4: 11-12 and I Cor. 12:27-31 and the manifestations in 1 Cor. 12:7-11.

In Vs. 6 Paul wrote that each member of the body of Christ has different gifts according to the grace given because God has a special purpose for each believer. He saves us by grace, and that same grace operates in us to minister to others. Thus believers should discover their gifts and should use them wholeheartedly in God's service.

In Vs. 7-8 Paul gave a representative list of gifts. Most of them are simple gifts that do not draw attention to themselves but are effective and necessary. Some believers are gifted in the ministry of Teaching. This refers to instructing believers in sound doctrine. The word "encouraging" in Vs. 8 has the idea of supporting, of coming to another's side as an advocate. "Contributing to the needs of others" involves sensitivity to their plights and sharing resources with them. The Greek word rendered "contributing" means "to give a part," "to share." The Greek term for "leadership" literally means "standing before or in front of.' Not all people are leaders. Some are followers. The church needs both. "Showing mercy" means "helping," "giving aid". We must give help "cheerfully."

Having a spiritual gift never was intended to be an end in itself. Even as having money is worthless if it provides only a number on a bank account, so merely having a gift is worthless if we do not use it. The stewardship of spiritual gifts is important, even crucial. If someone simply revels in his or her gifts and never uses them in ministry, that person wastes some of the most valuable resources God has given the individual.

A key element in stewardship is that God owns everything. Spiritual gifts come from the One who gives us everything---life, salvation, and eternal life. We dishonor the Giver if we do not use His gifts or if we misuse them. He has entrusted these special empowerments to our care. As good stewards we must use them wisely. We must not let our spiritual gifts lie dormant. We are to use them in the Master's service.

Our church has from time to time assisted us with an inventory to help us in identifying, refining, and exercising our spiritual gifts. I have here my own inventory I completed some years ago. May score is not all that high because my gifts are limited. It is better not to know your gifts than to know them and not to use them.

God does not evaluate us on the basis of the gift we have, but on how we use the gift He has given us with which to serve Him. One of the most attractive wonders in our world is a church whose members love God completely. One of the most tangible expressions of love for God occurs when we intentionally use our gifts to minister His grace to others. When a church's members do so, they affirm each member's ministry and create a fellowship in which God's power and presence are evident.

NEXT SUNDAY LET'S LOOK AT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE MONEY TO MANAGE BUT WHY SHOULD WE GIVE MONEY TO GOD? A.V. DAUGHERTY 1-23-00