Spiritual Gifts

Here are some points from the sermon last week on spiritual gifts...

The following are major passages on spiritual gifts:
1) 1 Peter 4:7-11
2) 1 Corinthians 12-14
3) Romans 12:1-8
4) Ephesians 4:1-16

Here is part of the sermon manuscript:

What are spiritual gifts?
They are not…
• Natural talents (sports, speaking, a learned skill) - God gives natural talents to be incorporated into the exercising of one’s spiritual gift
• Personality traits (good listener)
• The Fruit of the Spirit

They are…
• Dr. Aiken – “a supernatural enablement or ability given at conversion by God that equips the recipient to perform a spiritual function or assignment with efficiency and ease that strengthens the church, the body of Christ”
• John MacArthur – “a God-given capacity through which the Holy Spirit supernaturally ministers to the body. Your spiritual gift is a unique capacity to minister to the body of Christ through the channel of the Spirit of God, who supernaturally touches the lives of other people.”

Where did they come from and to whom were they given?
Spiritual gifts come from…
• God’s grace – 1 Peter 4:10 – “as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”
• God’s Son – Ephesians 4:7-8 – “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, He says: ‘When He ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men”
• God’s Spirit – 1 Corinthians 12:11 – “But one and the same Spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
Spiritual gifts are given…
• To all Christians at the moment of conversion

For what purpose were spiritual gifts given?
Spiritual gifts were given for…
• The Glory of God…
o 1 Peter 4:11 – “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen”
• The Edification of the Church…
o 1 Peter 4:10 – “as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another”
o Ephesians 4:16 – “from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love”
• The Work of Ministry…
o Ephesians 4:12 – “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry”
• The Maturing of the body…
o Ephesians 4:13-15 - until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

How should spiritual gifts be exercised?
Spiritual gifts should be exercised…
• With faithfulness – 1 Peter 4:10 – “minister to one another as good stewards”
• With the ability (strength) God supplies – 1 Peter 4:11
• With humility – Romans 12:3 – “for I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith”
• In their God-given functional role – 1 Corinthians 12:18 – “but now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased”
o Organization of the body for service – “Organizing around the gifts of the people will allow the church to focus on ministry, not maintenance”
• In love – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Summary – Dr. Black – “Different Christians will have different functions in the body, or course, but it is the duty of every Christian to serve every other Christian in love and humility. Let us then work, and work hard, and work together, not to advance ourselves or our denominations or our paltry kingdoms, but to advance Christ upside down kingdom…”

May the Lord use this to build you up in service for his kingdom.