Spiritual Gifts

No doubt, you would agree that Christmas probably represents what is perhaps some of the mornings you’ve experienced for a number of reasons. I’m sure you can recall some of the Christmas moments, best presents/gifts you have received.

I can tell you that I have fond memories – sometimes even tearful ones, of Christmases growing up with my family. Me and my twin brother were sneaky little critters. Our adoptive parents would buy us great presents!

And as kids, we had a very difficult time with self-control – we wanted to know what we were getting for Christmas before December 25^th!

The problem was that our gifts were wrapped up! So what is a child to do? So, while our parents were working on days we had no school, me and my brother would stare at the presents in their bedroom closets with wonder and excitement.

Well, too much staring in wonder leads to curiosity, and curiosity leads critters into tearing tiny holes in the presents, trying to get a glimpse into what our parents bought us.

You may say, David – you spoiled your exuberance on Christmas day! Not at all, because once we opened those gifts we got to fully exercise our joy and experience of what our parents purchased for us out of their love for us.

We received many gifts over the years, but there were typically one or more gifts that we received that stood out above the rest

I’ll never forget receiving our very own Nintendo Entertainment System complete with the game, Super Mario Bros! How excited we were to receive such an incredible gift, and our parents shared in our joy as they watched us kids open the gift.

Mind you, we were unbelievers in those days, so we didn’t quite grasp the spiritual significance of Christmas and to celebrate the Advent of Christ…Jesus coming to earth to take on flesh…

Christ was/is a salvation gift to those who believe.

Well, some of us here are no longer kids anymore, right? Perhaps for some of us, the thought of salvation is ever so present to us now not just because he has provided and purchased his people from the marketplace of sin. So the Christmases we have now have far more weight and sentiment than it ever had before, and being with family has far more weight too

It is a universal thing to say that receiving gifts… especially gifts that are well thought out…gifts that are going to make your life more enjoyable…receiving gifts like that…means a lot.

This morning…we are going to be studying gifts…more specifically…Spiritual gifts…

Hope for Everyday Life has been our theme this year…and we just finished studying self-control from 2 Peter 1.

In our series of hope for fruitful service, we have just finished studying seven different kinds of fruit that the apostle Peter said followers of Jesus Christ need to be diligent in growing.

Peter provides us two reasons to be diligent in growing in these various qualities. [Read 2 Pe. 1:9-10]

• He says we will be fruitful if we grow in these qualities.
  
  

• He says that if we are not growing, then we will be so nearsighted that we will be blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Reason one is the main emphasis of our recent sermons…

We want to be fruitful!! Jesus promised his people that when he saves them, that they will most certainly bear fruit.

We want to continue this series of being a Faithful Servant who is growing in hope…but we are now going to pivot to studying Spiritual Gifts….because the Gifts that are given to the church will help be fruitful servants of God….

For our main passage, we are going to be spending time in Romans 12:6-8 [READ]

However, since we are going to be doing that…instead of trying to unpack the entire concept of spiritual gifts in the next few sermons…we are going to do an introductory sermon today on the entire topic.

This message aims to set up and frame the next five sermons about specific spiritual gifts that the New Testament mentions.

Understanding Spiritual Gifts in the Bible

• What is a spiritual gift?

• Who gets spiritual gifts?

• When does a person receive spiritual gifts?

• What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?

• Are all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament still active today?

Instead of having one key passage that we are going to look at…what we are going to do is jump around the Bible…. rarely at Faith do we do a true topical sermon…and for good reason.

But we are going to do that today so that we can make sure we are all on the same page going forward.

I. What is a spiritual gift?

Scripture teaches us that…

Ephesians 4:8 “to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives,
And He gave gifts to men.”

Paul quoted from Psalm 68 – it’s a psalm of victory written by King David. When the Lord led David into victory, he received the spoils of that battle. Paul uses that as an analogy pointing to Christ having been victorious over in his earthly ministry, overcoming sin and the grave, the purchasing a people for himself, and giving them the spiritual spoils…gifts…

Now, there are a lot of places that we could turn to study what the gifts are…but I think that this passage from one of the longer sections on Spiritual Gifts is a good place for us to start…

1 Cor. 12:1,4-7,11 — Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware...4 Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God works all things in all persons. 7 But each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good...11 But the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

Now…if you are still struggling with the question of what a Spiritual Gift is…then let me provide a definition that comes from a few scholars that will help us answer that question…

ANSWER: Gifts of grace, for God’s glory, granted by the Holy Spirit that are designed for the church’s edification.

Let’s start by breaking that down a bit. First, Gifts are Gifts….

When something is a gift, it means that it’s not something that you’ve earned – not something you’ve worked for or earned.

When you received those Christmas presents, it wasn’t something you worked for – it wasn’t something you’ve earned. Your parents worked hard for those gifts and you have received the spoils of their labor, as it were.

When you read and see that persons have gifted in the Bible…you should see that it is by God’s grace…not something that the person did, lest anyone should boast

Or to put it another way, God’s grace is a gift to you and so is the faith he has given to you, lest we assume it had something to do with how amazing we are (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Lest any of us have any contention in our hearts about this, note what Paul said in his 1^st letter to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 4:7 —"What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

So, when it comes to gifts…they are gifts…

The gifts he gives us ultimately, revealing who God is…what God is doing… and in doing that…God get’s the praise.

He gets praise, by the giving of gifts to his people, the church, and as a result of that the church is built up. By giving the church gifts, God is glorified in and through his people.

Now, what is a Spiritual Gift? Answer – they are gifts of grace for God’s glory, granted by the Holy Spirit that are designed for the church’s edification.

Then, then next question for us is…

II. Who gets spiritual gifts?

Let’s see what God’s word has to say about that…

Rom. 12:6a — Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, we are to exercise them accordingly...

Eph 4:7. — But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

1 Pe 4:10 — As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

In other words, every single believer in this room has received spiritual gifts. What isn’t clear is how many. We may, with confidence, say that each believer receives at least one spiritually unique gift.

You may be saying – every believer…? Yes.

ANSWER: Every believer.

Yes, you did receive a gift.

This brings us to an important question….do you know what your gift is?

If we believe that each person here has received a particular spiritual gift…that is given by God…then it follows that you know what it is, right?

If you don’t know what your gift is…how do you come to know what it is?

I would say three ways:

First, you will have to just try stuff out.

Second, you will find that you are…well…getting better at it naturally…and you really enjoy it.

Thirdly, others will confirm what your gift is. Let’s walk through that really quickly.

• When you are starting to consider what your gifting from the Spirit is…some of it will be trial and error. For me it was trial and error. Some aspects of church ministry I was simply awful at it in every conceivable sense. I was not building up the body of Christ, but dragging it down! But overtime and with faithfulness in serving, God’s people began to confirm my giftedness, you see. So it all begins by just…serving, just be faithful. and in time, your giftedness in said area will be confirmed by what you love, but also by others.
  
  

• And as you do that…there will be things that you find yourself doing that you are good at…even if it is not natural…it will be something you enjoy doing and improving in.
  
  I believe that, by the grace of God…my gift lay primarily in the area of encouragement/exhortation. Perhaps there are other elements…I don’t know, but I at-least know that much, I believe

• If you say you are a gifted teacher and want to teach, but everyone is more confused after you train, that’s probably not your gift.

But if you teach, and people affirm your clarity, thoughtfulness, and excellent teaching, then that is a good indication that you may be gifted in that area and should pursue with diligence growing that spiritual gift.

I remember helping out with a church plant in CA, I was asked to lead worship, so I did. After one year of leading, I never wanted to do that again! And I don’t believe the church wanted me to do it again too. It just wasn’t my forte, I wasn’t gifted in that area, and I believe God’s people would have agreed with that.

In other words, your giftedness must be affirmed.

The next thing we need to consider is this: if we all have a spiritual gift(s), and we know what they are…

III. When does a person receive their spiritual gift?

God’s Word tells us that as

1 Pe 4:10 — As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

1 Co 12:11 — But the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

Romans 12:6-8 “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; ⁷ if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

I think that the answer is clear…

ANSWER: At the moment a person trusts in Jesus Christ and received the Holy Spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit who distributes, proportions, and energizes His gifts to the service of God’s people, the church

If you trusted in the D/B/R of Christ…then the Spirit will immediately, take residence in your life forever, and you will have received at least one gift…and you received that at the moment of your spiritual new Birth.

And for those who have yet to surrender your life to Christ in salvation, the Scripture says this of you

Romans 8:9 “…But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

The question for you is do you want to belong to Christ? If your answer is yes, then repent of your sins and turn to Christ and he will grant you the gift of salvation and all the spoils Christ accomplished at the Cross to those who believe.

The truth is that God did not have to do this for us. God did not have to gift his Church anything more than he already did.

Oh how loving, how kind…how awesome your Heavenly Father is…not only did he ensure that you have salvation…but he wanted you to have his spoils…his gifts.

I hope and pray that we just marvel at the love of our Lord as we consider…

IV. What is the purpose of spiritual gifts?

I would like to put forward two primary purposes that God has given gifts to his church.

The first is this…

Building up the Body

Eph 4:12a — for the equipping of the saints for the work of service

This is a common metaphor used to describe the church as a building that is being built.

We see it, for example, in 1 Cor. 3 where Paul refers to this very thing in terms of laying a foundation as a “wise-builder.”

Elsewhere in the Bible we are God’s temple. The building metaphor is a common one to describe not only what we are…but what is happening.

One of the best ways to understand so much of the ministry of the church is to think about it through the lens of building…

When myself or one of the other pastors up here is speaking to you…studying the Bible…what are we trying to do?

ANSWER: Building up the body.

When you are in a small group…and I hope that you are…what is happening in the small group…we are trying to build on what is there…the foundation…

So then, gifts are given to the church…to build up God’s people – to strengthen God’s people – to edify God’s people.

Do I dare ask that when you consider your gifts…are you using them to build up the body?

Or, do you bury your talent and don’t use it at all…? I honestly find that passing strange, to say the least. If all you do is you come here to hear God’s Word and you leave soon after – are not a part of a bible study – or are not involved in service to the King of glory, you need a serious heart check because that makes little, if no sense whatsoever…I say that because using God’s gifts are also given for…

Bringing unity to the church

Eph 4:13 — until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Christ promised that he would give unity to the church. He gave us peace with God and peace with each other.

Part of the way that unity is given to the church is by the using of our gifts to serve one another.

When the world looks at the Church today, does it see a kind of kingdom people who are in community that is an other worldly experience?

They should see white collar and blue collar.

They should see folks from different ethnicities, ancestries, socio-economic groups, politics, age groups and so on….

Is that what they see? Do they see a kind of spiritual community that has…unity. I am not talking about unity for the sake of peace, I am talking about the kind of unity centered in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Lastly, then, let’s ask the questions.

V. Are all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the NT active today?

I know that what I am about to say, some in this room will either be confused or will simply disagree for a number of reasons to disagree. Let me first start out by saying that these disagreements are not dependent on salvation.

For instance, If you want to be a member of Faith Church…you have to believe certain doctrinal truths doctrines of first importance…and live a certain way.

For instance, you have to believe that it is by grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone that you are saved. There are certain truths that are central to the Christian Faith…and you have to hold to those.

Then there are other things that if you choose to believe…you can’t be a part of this church for a number of reasons. For instance, you can’t believe that you need to pray to Mary, the earthly mother of Christ…for the remission of your sins.

You cannot believe that all religions lead to heaven, and that you just chose to believe in Christianity…but it doesn’t matter if you are a Muslim of Hindu…what matters is you be true to you.

So, in order to be a member of Faith, you have to believe certain things and then other things you can’t believe.

You also have to live a certain way as well.

You can’t take the view of sin…well, as long as I ask for forgiveness, that is OK…what I do doesn’t matter.

Now…I say all of that as a preface to say….that when it comes to how we are going to answer this question…this is a thing that you can believe differently than how I will answer the question, and to some degree, even act differently…and still be a member here at Faith.

So, if you find yourself disagreeing with me…and the formal position that Faith has…that is OK…you can hold to a different belief, provided that you are not divisive about holding that belief.

Here is how we would answer the question….first by saying that there are two types of gifts generally talked about in the Bible.

A. Authenticating and Edifying Gifts

Now, what do we mean by that? In order to understand where this is going, we need to categorize God’s operation throughout redemptive history, ok? So, I need you to pay attention.

In God’s redemptive history lay what many have observed as miracle ages by which God was routinely doing or performing the miraculous. These three periods of time are

1) Moses to Joshua

2) Elijah and Elisha

3) Jesus and the Apostles

300 years

Each of these periods cover approximately 100 years of time by which miracles were routine – where miracles were continuous. Now, at this point, you may ask – are you saying that miracles today are not routine or the norm – ANSWER: That’s exactly what I am saying!

You say, “David – isn’t that putting God in a box” ANSWER: We’re not putting God in a box, we are – listen – categorizing God’s operation throughout redemptive history. That doesn’t mean he’s stopped doing miracles or that he has stopped interjecting himself in human history – all its saying that miracles are not routine, they are not the norm.

So we believe God still performs the miraculous, but there are no authenticating miraculously gifted men, such as the apostles and prophets walking around today – those men were granted supernatural authenticating gifts for a season and then disappeared for a reason, which I will explain soon, ok?

Let’s look at Moses for a moment and the Exodus…how did Moses convinced everyone that he was truly speaking for God?

No…he worked miracles that were meant to show that he was speaking on behalf of God. The OT called these “signs and wonders.”

Deuteronomy 29:2-3 “And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders.”

In Deuteronomy 34:10 that there

Deuteronomy 34:10 “Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, ¹¹ for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land.”

What about the age of Elijah and Elisha? Do you remember Elijah and the prophets of Baal? What did Elijah say in his prayer to Yahweh?

Deuteronomy 34:36-39 “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.”

The point was…often the prophets who spoke for God had a confirming sign to authenticate what they were doing. To put simply, the purpose sign and wonders/miracles were to authenticate the message that was being delivered.

After these 2 eras…the miracle dropped off the planet. And you don’t see this phenomenon happen again until the arrival of Christ and the Apostles, which far exceeded those two eras in so far as the abundance of miracles performed.

That’s why John could say that Christ performed

John 20:30-31 “Many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

And there are a number of church that get the point of Jesus’ healing ministry all wrong.
Jesus did miraculously heal a lot of people…but his purpose in doing so was to confirm who he was. Once the miraculous men left the scene, there is a cessation of miraculous age, such that miracles are no longer the norm or routine.

Even the Apostle Paul observed that the miraculously gifted men in the church along with their office was not something routine for the church age – that’s why he could say that the…

2 Corinthians 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”

Already the Apostle was talking about these miraculously gifted men as something past, not routine for the church age…

Now, for the sake of time, I have got to move on.

There is another class of gifts…gifts that are used for edification….the building up of the body…

Here is our long-awaited and promised chart.

Authenticating Gifts:

Edifying Gifts:

A few things about our chart above.

First, you can see that there are just some major references, primarily in the NT, not an exhaustive list. It’s just the verses with reference to the gifts themselves, with no examples.

It’s just a representative list on what scholars agree on as the gifts.

Nothing too controversial yet. But when we get into that, it will be toward the end so that I can run away and hide. 😊

B. Authenticating gifts were necessary until the completion of Scripture, but no longer.

1 Co 13:8 — “…but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.”

What’s the big picture…

ANSWER: Not all spiritual gifts are active today because we have the completed Scriptures.

That is to say, the office of the prophets and the office of the apostles along with their authenticating sign gifts ceased in the apostolic era because their mission was complete in that we now have God’s Special Revelation, that is the Word of God.

Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.”

In other words, the final revelation given to us is the Word of the Son! Meaning, the Word of God. He is the final and complete revelation for the church age.

Again, this doesn’t mean that believe that miracles and God interacting in our world is done. What it does mean that there is no one person who have those authenticative sign gift anymore, unless you want to argue that you yourself are a prophet like Moses or Elijah or an Apostle…

And there are some churches that do in fact, claim just that – these are called apostolic churches, which I would argue are extremely dangerous…

But if you hear a story of someone being miraculously cured of cancer and there is no medical explanation…that doesn’t go against what we teach here at Faith Church.

What I am saying is…the gift of healing… as we see in the early days of the church…no longer exists. It does not exist because the reason that it was needed is no longer valid.

We have said it before…but let’s remember that the goal of gifts is the build and to encourage…are you doing that?

If you are not…then I would encourage you to take time to consider (1) what is my gift, and (2) how am I using that gift in the church.

If you are not using your gifts to serve the church…to serve fellow Christians…then you are living contrary to how God wants you to live.

John MacArthur

The Holy Spirit gives gifts to all Christians, that He gives a variety of gifts, and that every gift is as spiritual and important as any other. We should not envy those who seem to be greatly gifted. Our concern should be to discover, to faithfully use, and to be grateful for the gift the Lord has given us. God makes no mistakes. His gifts to us are the best possible one He could give us for doing what he wants us to do. Not only is every believer gifted, but every believer is perfectly gifted. No child in the world could substitute for one of our own children. No matter how many children we might have, none could ever be replaceable. Neither are God’s children replaceable or the ministries He has given them replaceable. No other believer can take our place in God’s heart, and no other believer can take our place in God’s work. He has given no one the exact gift He has given us. If we do not use our gift no one else will; if we do not fulfill our ministry it will not be fulfilled. (The MacArthur Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians”, p. 293

As we reflect on the Gospel and communion this morning, let’s ask the Lord on how you may need to grow in using your gifts to the glory of his name.

Pray…