Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:1-6

The Big Idea

God wants to lead and speak to His people, and He loves to do it through His people by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There’s a lot of confusion about spiritual gifts, but the test is always Jesus: true gifts glorify Him, line up with His Word, and help people receive His grace. Every believer has at least one gift, freely given, so we can partner with God in loving His family.

Speaking of Gifts

We sometimes put lottery scratchers in stockings at Christmas. It always seems kind of funny: “Here’s a 99 percent chance of disappointment. I hope it reminds you of me.”

And if you ever need a housewarming gift, I’ve got you: give a fireplace.

Now let’s talk about far better gifts.

Don’t Be Uninformed (1 Corinthians 12:1)

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, Paul doesn’t want them to be uninformed.

It’s really important that we understand this.
Yet there’s a lot of confusion about spiritual gifts and the spiritual life.
God wants to lead us, by speaking to us and through us, in His church.

That raises a question: do people hear God’s voice? How?

Dumb Idols vs. a Speaking God (1 Corinthians 12:2)

They knew that when they were pagans, they were led astray to mute idols.

Big picture: God actually speaks to us through His Holy Spirit.

No other god can. They’re all mute idols.
It’s hard to be led by something that can’t speak!

You can hear His voice.

God wants to communicate His heart and love to you.
And He loves to speak through His people. He chooses to use His church, the people, not the organization, to communicate His life.
God promises His people that they’ll hear a word behind them saying, “This is the way; walk in it,” whenever they turn to the right or the left (Isaiah 30:21).

Ever wondered why some people say they hear God all the time? Maybe they’re faking it or being deceived. Or maybe they’re truly hearing what God has for them. How can we know? Can someone speak for God? What are the guidelines? If someone says something that contradicts God, do we have to listen?

We’re supposed to know how to test this.

The Test Is Always Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:3)

Paul says no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

The test is always Jesus.

Does the message glorify Jesus?
Does it reinforce the sacrifice and love of Jesus for His people and the world?
Does it honor Jesus as Lord? Does it submit to everything Jesus has already revealed and taught? This is the big one.

If it’s new, it’s not true. If it’s not in the Bible, that’s a problem. If it’s not in the Book, don’t give it a second look.

The Spirit points to Jesus

Jesus said that when the Helper comes, whom He would send from the Father, the Spirit of truth, He would testify about Jesus (John 15:26).

The Holy Spirit isn’t a gimmick, a force or a magic power. He’s a Person.
He has one main calling card: He always points people toward Jesus and His grace, and connects people to Jesus.
It’s never about the person He’s using.
But God does love to use people. Every believer has at least one spiritual gift, maybe more. God invites us to partner with Him in His kingdom work, the family business.
But only so Jesus is the center of attention. His kingdom, not ours. So people hear what Jesus says and see what Jesus does.

Important: the Holy Spirit doesn’t take people over the way a demon does. He lives through a willing, surrendered heart. That takes humility and faith.

Jesus said the Spirit will glorify Him, taking what belongs to Jesus and declaring it to us (John 16:14).

The gifts of the Spirit come straight from Jesus.
They’re part of the grace He gives His church.
Always free. Never earned.
You can’t talk God into giving them, or do something to lose them (Romans 11:29).
They’re truly gifts. Free.
You can’t go to school for them. In the early church there was no seminary, and many believers couldn’t even read. God had to give them gifts to serve Him with.

So the gifts will always:

line up with His will and His heart,
be done in His name, according to His character revealed in the Bible,
help people receive the grace of Jesus.

His death and resurrection are freely offered to everyone, and the purpose of the gifts is to help us believe it and receive it.

Jesus also said the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and remind us of everything He said (John 14:26).

The Spirit and His gifts all aim to connect us to Jesus’ words. His promises and life are in His words.
Our job is to believe the words of Jesus, and the Spirit helps us do that.
He helps you believe, understand and remember the truth that is in Jesus.

Different Gifts, Same God (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. Different kinds of service, but the same Lord. Different kinds of working, but the same God who works all of them in everyone.

Spirit, Lord, God: the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus and God the Father. One God, three Persons. The Trinity.
The big picture: God gives different gifts to each person in His family.
No two people are exactly alike.
God is directly responsible for creating us with such amazing diversity of gifts.
And He wants to lead His people through these gifts.
You’ll have a main gift God has given you, and maybe more than one.
But no one is more important than anyone else.

What Does It Mean to Have a Gift?

God has planned how you’re designed to serve His kingdom here on earth.
That isn’t because He doesn’t value your freedom or free will. It’s because He values you so much, and wants to partner with you in His perfect plan to redeem the world.
God wants to communicate His love, heart and plan through your gift.
So it’s amazing to discover your gift and walk in it with faith and humility.

A good spiritual gifts survey can be a helpful starting point for discovering how God has wired you.

Three Kinds of Gifts

One helpful way to group the gifts:

Miraculous gifts: apostle, tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healing.
Enabling gifts: faith, discernment, wisdom, knowledge.
Team (ministry) gifts:
– Evangelism: a passion for leading people to know Christ.
– Prophecy: boldly proclaiming God’s truth.
– Teaching: explaining God’s Word clearly and accurately.
– Exhortation: encouraging others toward faith-filled action and purpose.
– Shepherding: caring for, guiding, feeding and leading God’s people.
– Serving: giving practical help, physically and spiritually.
– Mercy: coming alongside and comforting those in need.
– Giving: generously releasing resources for God’s work.
– Administration: organizing and leading so the work moves forward.

The point of every gift is to build up the body of Jesus, the church. God wants to speak His life-giving word to His family, and He wants to use you to do it, with your gift.

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. Jesus’ words are spirit and life (John 6:63).

We can speak life with our gifts:

You communicate God’s love when you serve.
You communicate how valuable people are to Him when you shepherd.
You share His heart when you bring healing.
And on and on.

How Do I Live in the Spirit and Use My Gift?

Simple.

Believe that you were forgiven when you died with Jesus, and that He rose from the dead and lives in you.
Ask Jesus to live through you.
Step forward to love people in the specific way God has designed and gifted you to.

Grace Takeaway

God speaks, and He loves to speak through His people. Every gift comes freely from Jesus and points back to Him. Test everything by Jesus and His Word, discover how He’s gifted you, and step out in faith to love His family.

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What Are Spiritual Gifts? Part 1