Alright well we’re there in 1 Corinthians 12. We’ve been going through this series on Sunday nights. And we’ve been going through a systematic study of the Holy Spirit. It’s been a very doctrinal type sermon series. We’ve been learning about the Holy Spirit. If you remember, we started with a sermon on the Person of the Holy Spirit. And we talked about the Holy Spirit as God. Then we talked about the Holy Spirit in the Trinity. We talked about the work of the Holy Spirit. Last week we talked about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
This week we’re talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We have about 3 weeks left in this series. So I hope you will be excited about that and stick with us. I’m really excited. Today we’re talking about the filling of the Holy Spirit. Then we’ll talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And we’ll talk about the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues as we finish up this study. But this subject of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is an interesting subject because there is a lot of wrong thinking and false teaching that arises from it.
We’re here in 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12 is really the chapter that deals with spiritual gifts. The other chapter that deals with spiritual gifts is Romans 12. We’re going to go back and forth and look at those. But I want you to notice what Paul says here in verse 1. 1 Corinthians 12:1 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” So Paul begins this chapter by saying that there are spiritual gifts and I want you to be aware of them. I don’t want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. He says in verse 2, “2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” We talked about that last week with the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. Notice verse 4, in verses 4 through 6, he gives an outline for the rest of this chapter as he deals with the subject of spiritual gifts. He says “4 Now there are diversities of gifts,” So he talks about how there are different types of gifts. “but the same Spirit.”
Here’s what he is saying. There is 1 Holy Spirit but he gives different types of gifts to every believer. Notice verse 5 “5 And there are differences of administrations,” That’s talking about different offices or positions of leadership. “but the same Lord.” Verse 6 “6 And there are diversities of operations,” That is how you do things and how you get things done. “but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” And if you look at this chapter, and I’m not preaching through this chapter tonight. But just for your own edification. If you look at verses 1 through 11, you’ll find the diversities of gifts that he talks about in verse 4. And if you look at verses 12 through 16, he talks about the differences in administrations that he mentioned in verse 5. And if you look at verses 17 through 31, he talks about the different operations that he mentioned in verse 6. So he really gives us an outline for the chapter.
And today we’re just going to focus on this idea of spiritual gifts. So I’d like you to keep your place in 1 Corinthians 12. That is our text tonight. But go with me to 1 Peter 4. While you’re turning there, let me say this and let me explain to you a little bit about the spiritual gifts. There is a lot of misunderstanding about spiritual gifts and how they apply to us today because there are some gifts that are mentioned in these lists that are what I would call supernatural gifts. And they are generally called sign gifts but I like to call them supernatural gifts. There’s nothing wrong with calling them sign gifts and the Bible even uses that terminology. But I don’t like that terminology because the Pentecostals have kind of turned that in to something else. But there are these sign gifts or supernatural gifts and then there are service gifts or ministry gifts.
So I want you to understand as we jump in to this idea of spiritual gifts that when we are talking about spiritual gifts, they fall under 2 categories. One is the sign gifts or the supernatural gifts. Those are supernatural, miraculous things that God gives the ability or he gives the ability to individuals to be able to do. And then he has the service gifts. Those are aptitudes or talents or abilities that he gives believers in order to be used in a local church. To be able to serve in the local assembly.
I want you to notice in verse 10 what the Bible says about these gifts. 1 Peter 4:10 “10 As every man hath received the gift,” Ok. And he’s talking about if you have the Holy Spirit because remember this is the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He’s saying that if you have the Holy Spirit, if you got saved and you have the Holy Spirit, then along with the Holy Spirit, he gives you some gifts that he expects you to use in ministry, in the service of the Lord. He said “As every man hath receive the gift, even so minister the same one to another,” He says look, God gave you a gift and God expects you to minister the same to one another “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”. He’s saying look, you have received the manifold grace of God. You have received these spiritual gifts. And you are to steward those gifts. You are to manage those gifts properly for the glory of God.
Notice verse 11 “11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;” We’re actually going to see that in the spiritual gifts I mentioned as one of the gifts. But notice what he says next “if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth:” That’s referring to the spiritual gifts. If you have a spiritual gift, you have the ability to be able to do certain things that God has given you and he says look, when you minister, when you serve, you ought to do it as of the ability that God giveth. “that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
So here’s what I know when you go back to 1 Corinthians 12, when you got saved, you got the Holy Spirit of God. And when you got the Holy Spirit, he gave you a gift. And he may have given you more than 1 gift. I would say this, I believe that every believer has at least been given a spiritual gift from God that we’re going to look at today from Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. I also believe that most believers have probably been given multiple gifts, maybe a couple gifts or several gifts. That God has given you to be used within the church and ministering for the Lord. But I know that if you are saved, God has equipped you with a spiritual gift. And what I would like to do tonight as we study this idea and dig in to it, try to identify what the spiritual gift is that God has given you. And I’m going to help you with that and help you understand that.
But here’s what I know, if you are saved, God has given you a spiritual gift. Because the Bible says “10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another,”. God says I gave you a gift and I expect you to minister with that gift. I expect you to serve with that gift. Now go back to 1 Corinthians 12. Let’s talk about the 2nd category, the supernatural gifts. Because I’m breaking this up to you in 2 categories, we’re not necessarily going to go in order of the gifts. We are going to go through each of the gifts but we are going to cover them in these 2 categories. The first is that of the supernatural gifts or what is commonly referred to as the sign gifts. And I want to begin by explaining the purpose of the supernatural gifts or the purpose of the sign gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:7 “7 But the manifestation” You see that word manifestation. The word manifestation or to make something manifest means to make something so that it is clearly seen. So that it is visible. He says “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”. So he’s saying, I’m going to give you a gift so you can prosper with that gift. But he said that one of the purposes, and I believe he’s specifically talking about the sign gifts or the supernatural gifts, are that the manifestation of the Spirit might appear. That people would know when they see you using these supernatural gifts. And I’m not getting all Pentecostal on you. I’ll explain this. But he’s explaining that when God gives a supernatural gift, when God gives a sign gift, the purpose is not to glorify that individual. The person is that others might be able to manifest, to clearly see, to identify the work of the Spirit of God in their life.
Now there are these supernatural gifts and let me just say it to you now. But I’m just going to say it as some of you might be worried. I believe the supernatural gifts have been done away with. I believe the sign gifts are no longer available for us today. I’ll show you that from the Bible. I’ll show you why that is. But I want you to know that there was a time when God gave these supernatural gifts. And the purpose was that the glory would go to God. That people would be able to identify that God was working in and through his people. So let’s talk about these sign gifts. What are they?
As far as I can tell, I’ve identified 3 categories of these sign gifts or these supernatural gifts. The first category is the gift of healing. Look at verse 9 “9 To another faith by the same Spirit;” And we’re going to come back and look at that later. “to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;” This is the first supernatural gift. Now when we talk about having the gift of healing, the supernatural gift of healing. We’re talking about the ability or the power to heal on command. This is what Paul had. This is what Peter had. This is of course what the Lord Jesus Christ did. But the apostles even in the book of Acts were able to heal people or heal individuals, raise the lame, even raise the dead and they were able to do that because they had been given the supernatural gift through the Holy Spirit of God called “The Gifts of Healing”.
And of course the Lord Jesus Christ had this gift. He had the gift of healing. He had the ability to heal. Have you ever asked yourself why did Jesus perform miracles? What was the point of his miracles? What was the purpose of him going around and healing people? What was the point of that? Well in Mark 2, we get a little insight in to that question. So we know that he healed people. The question is why? What was the purpose, what was the point? Mark 2:5 “5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
Remember the story? They brought the man sick of the palsy. They lowered him down through the roof. And when Jesus saw their faith, not just his faith, but the faith of those who believed that if they brought him then he would heal him. It says “5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Notice that was not a physical healing. That was not a physical, supernatural thing that he did with the man’s body. But he just saved the soul. He forgave his sins. He gave him salvation. Notice verse 6 “6 But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,” Notice, they weren’t saying anything out loud. They were thinking in their minds. They were reasoning in their hearts. Verse 7 “7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies?” They’re saying this guy is blaspheming. You say well why would they say that? Well notice, “who can forgive sins but God only?”.
Now here’s the thing, they are right about that. That only God can forgive sins. And it is blasphemous for a man to think that he has the ability to forgive sins. Today the Roman Catholic Priests that will sit there and say that you are forgiven of this sin or forgiven of that sin. Do 3 Hail Marys and do whatever, say this prayer, chant this thing and I forgive you. And I absolve you. That is a blasphemous thing for a man to say because only God can forgive sins. Now you say, well what’s the issue here. The issue here is that they did not understand that Jesus is God. So they said, hey this man is blaspheming. Where were they wrong? They weren’t wrong with the statement who can forgive sins but God. They were wrong with the statement “Why doth this man thus speak?”.
Because what they did not understand was that this man was God in the flesh. And this man had the authority and ability to forgive sin. Notice verse 8 “8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit” Because remember, they’re not talking out loud. And just the fact that he knows what they’re thinking is showing again that this is God. We’re not dealing with a mere man. “when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?” Now notice what he says in verse 9. “9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?”
Here’s what Jesus is saying, it’s actually easier for me to physically, supernaturally, miraculously heal this man, that’s actually easier than what I Jesus did of forgiving him of all his sins. But you don’t understand that because you’re a human being. You’re not carnal. You only see what you see and you don’t see the spirit world. And he said, you think that it’s blasphemous for me. You think that it’s blasphemous for me to forgive sins. But you think that it would actually be more difficult for me to heal him physically. Notice verse 10 “10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.”.
So what we learn from this passage is this, that the reason Jesus would perform physical miracles, was only to lend credibility to the message of salvation that he was bringing. The purpose of the healings was to be a sign that he was who he said he was. Well when the Apostles began to heal, the purpose of their healing was to be a sign that the message that they preached of Christ was true. The purpose of the miracles has been and has always been just to show and to lend credibility to the fact that the message of Jesus Christ, the message of God is a true message, is a true miracle.
Let me give you another example of a supernatural or sign gift. Notice the first one was the gift of healing. Then he mentions in 1 Corinthians 12:10 “10 To another the working of miracles;”. Alright, so now we’re not just talking about healing somebody. But we’re talking about the performing of miracles, being able to do supernatural things. Why did Jesus do this? What was the purpose? Go to John 2. Let me just show you the purpose. Why did God give Elijah the ability to do the things he did. Elisha the ability to do the things he did. Why did God give Moses the ability to do the things he did? Why did God give Moses the ability to perform the plagues. One thing was to bring credibility to the message that Moses brought from God.
See Moses didn’t just show up and say, thus saith the Lord God let my people go. Moses showed up and said thus saith the Lord God let my people go and turned the Nile river to blood. Which they worshipped that river. He said thus saith the Lord God let my people go and brought swarms of flies and brought darkness and brought frogs and just kind of picked his finger at all of their so called gods. Why? The signs were there to bring credibility to the message he brought. The signs of Christ, the miracles, the healings, he did all that to bring credibility to who he was and what he was doing.
John 2:11 “11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee,” Talking about the turning of water in to wine. Why did he do it? Notice. “and manifested” Remember we saw that word manifested. He clearly showed or “manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” Why did he do the miracles? Why did he do the healings? To show as a sign that brings credibility to the message and the work that he was preaching. Go to John 10.
You say Pastor Jimenez, how can we know if these faith healers, if they are real or fake? How do we know that? #1 – I think all our fake because these sign gifts or supernatural gifts have been done away with. But another way to just know that they are just fake is because the purpose of the signs was to lend credibility to the message. So before you get all wrapped up in the signs of Benny Hinn, just listen to the message of Benny Hinn. And the truth is this, if you listen to the message of these faith healers, they are all preaching a false gospel. They are all preaching a works salvation. They are all preaching repent of your sins. Meaning turn away from your sins to be saved. None of them believe in eternal security. None of them believe in salvation by grace through faith not of works. They all preach a false gospel.
So before you get wrapped up in the miracles you gotta look at the message. And if you can look at the message and realize this is a false message. Forget about the miracles. The antichrist will perform miracles. The false prophet will perform miracles. The prophets of Pharaoh performed miracles. Don’t get too wrapped up in the miracles. Realize the miracles were there to bring credibility to the message that was a true message. Today you can just look at the message and look at the word of God, and if it doesn’t match up then it’s antichrist. It’s Satanic. It’s something else. It’s a different source.
John 10:25 “25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not:” Notice what Jesus says “the works” He’s referring to the miracles and the things he has done “that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.”. Jesus, why did you come on this earth and do all these miracles and do these great things. Why? Because he says the works bear witness of me. Notice John 14:11 “11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else” Notice what he says. “believe me for the very works’ sake.” He says look, these works, these healings, these miracles, they lend credibility, the give credibility to the message I’m giving. That I came forth from the Father. That I am the Christ, I am the Saviour, I am the Messiah.
Let me show you the 3rd sign gift. The first one is the gift of healing. The 2nd one is the gift of working miracles. The 3rd one is the ability to speak with tongues. The ability to speak with tongues. Let me show this to you and let me talk to you about it and give you some things to consider. 1 Corinthians 12:10 “10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits;”. Notice what he says “to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:”. Go to 1 Corinthians 14. Remember we talked about the supernatural gifts, the sign gifts. They are signs given to give credibility to the word and to the message being preached. 1 Corinthians 14:22 “22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign,”
Ok, I want you to understand this idea of tongue speaking or speaking with tongues. And I’m actually going to preach an entire sermon on this subject as we finish this series. So I want go in to too much detail. But when it comes to the gifts, they are divided in to supernatural and service. The sign gifts & the ministry gifts. The gifts given to be able to serve as local, new testament believers in a local new testament church. And the supernatural gifts given to be a sign to the credibility of the message being preached. The ability of speaking with tongues is unique in the fact that there is a supernatural version to it and a ministerial version of it. There is a supernatural version of it like we see in Acts 2 where people who did not learn languages, who did not take the time to learn languages, were supernaturally able to speak a language they never learned.
In 1 Corinthians 14, we saw Paul talking about people speaking with tongues. But it’s not a supernatural thing. But it’s an ability God has given to them to speak and learn languages. So you need to understand that speaking in tongues falls in to 2 categories. There is the supernatural ability to speak with tongues that you never learned. But there is also the service gift where some people have been given the ability or aptitude to pick up and learn languages. Paul was given that gift which is why he knew so many languages. Which is why he learned so many languages and was able to use them as he traveled the world. We do have that supernatural gift.
And again, I’m going to get in to that in a lot of detail in about 4 weeks when we get to that subject. But let me just kind of whet your appetite on that. Something to consider when you look at the speaking in tongues of Acts 2 and you compare it to the speaking in tongues of 1 Corinthians 14. Other than the verse I showed you where he talks about it being a sign. He says that he treats them completely different. For example, in the day of Pentecost, everyone spoke in tongues with no exception. Whether they learned it, whether they had done Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone. No matter what they learned, everyone with no exception spoke with a tongue that they did not know. In 1 Corinthians 14, he’s actually telling them that only a few of them speak with tongues. He’s reprimanding them for speaking in tongues because only a few speak with tongues. He says I don’t want you to get up and speak in tongues because nobody knows what you are talking about. In the day of Pentecost, no interpreter was needed. Because they were able to supernaturally speak the language that they knew. He says in 1 Corinthians 14, he says you better not get up and speak without an interpreter. Ok.
So when you study those, you see we are not talking about the same thing. What happened at the day of Pentecost is not what happened at the Church of Corinth. And we’re going to get in to a lot of detail in a few weeks when we study that. But I just want you to understand, we have 2 categories. Supernatural sign gifts, service or ministry gifts and the speaking of tongues has a version that goes in to both. There was a supernatural, miraculous thing that God did in the book of Acts where people spoke with a language they had never taken the time to learn. But there is also the gift or aptitude of people being able to pick up languages to be able to use that in soulwinning and Missions work and things like that. So I hope that makes sense.
Go to Acts 10 and let me show you the speaking with tongues under the supernatural category. What was the purpose? Remember, the purpose of all supernatural gifts was to be a sign. To lend credibility to the message being preached. Acts 10:44-45 “44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them” We’re talking about Gentiles here “which heard the word.” He doesn’t necessarily see that, alright. So what does God do to help him know that I am for this, I’m with this. These people got this. They got saved. Notice verse 45 “45 And they of the circumcision which believed” Talking about the Jews who got saved, that were there. “were astonished,” The same Jews that were with Peter preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. When the Holy Ghost fell on them. They were astonished. “as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Well how did they know that? What gave them a clue or a sign that the Holy Ghost had fell upon the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Verse 46 “46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,” Then it goes on to talk about that. So again, the supernatural gifts were given just as a sign where God was saying I am for this, I am for what’s going on, I’m for this message. I’m putting my stamp of approval on what is happening today. When it comes to the supernatural gifts, I don’t believe that those gifts are available today. I don’t believe that is something that we do today. I’m not going to be able to heal you. I’m not going to be able to turn water in to wine or whatever.
If we run out of Coca-Cola at an event, we have to go to the store and buy more. I can’t just turn water in to coke or whatever. The supernatural gifts have been done away and let me give you a verse for that. Let me just give you a couple disclaimers on these supernatural gifts. And then we’re going to get in to the ministry gifts. Because remember, the purpose of the gifts, the purpose of the miracles was always to lend credibility and confirm what was being done. Why did Jesus give the supernatural ability to do miracles to the apostles? Mark 16:20 “20 And they went forth,” Talking about the Apostles “and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
You notice that God gave this supernatural ability to the apostles because when Paul showed up to a place that had never heard of Christ and he began to preach Christ, he would often confirm the word with the miracles and the healings that Paul did. He gave them those supernatural abilities to confirm the word. Why? Because the word of God had not yet been completely written. The Word of God was still in the process of being written. It was literally being written by Matthew and Luke and Paul himself and John.
So God allowed them to have the supernatural gifts of healing, speaking with tongues, all of those things to confirm what was happening and what was going on in the time period known as the book of Acts. Because it was a transitional period. We were transitioning between the Old Covenant and Old Testament to the New Covenant and the New Testament. And the word of God, especially the New Testament had not been completed. And the Bible says that God gave them these supernatural gifts to confirm the Word. You say Pastor Jimenez, why don’t we need the gifts today. Because we don’t need to confirm the word today. It’s done. It’s here. You don’t need to confirm it. We don’t need to say, hey look, I’m bringing you a message and I’m going to confirm it with this supernatural gift.
I don’t need to confirm anything. This Bible stands on its own. We don’t defend the word of God. I told you about this reasoning series we are going to do. I’m all for taking our beliefs and doctrines and putting them up to reasoning and logical reasoning because we don’t believe in fairy tales. We don’t believe in just these mystical things. I have no problem and no issue with taking anything from the Word of God and letting it be brought up against anyone’s reasoning and anyone’s logic. Because you can reason with God. He says let us reason together. So the point is this, we don’t have to confirm the Word of God. The word of God confirms itself.
Someone said the word of God is like a lion. You don’t defend the lion. You just let it loose and it defends itself. You don’t have to sit there and try to help a lion out. Let the lion do what it’s going to do. When it comes to the word of God. Let the word of God do what it is going to do. But during the transitional period, when it was still not written, the Bible says that the Lord was working with them and confirming the word with signs following. Once the New Testament was completed, the office of the Apostles was done away with. We entered in to what we now know as the Local New Testament Church. And those sign gifts were done away. So I hope that answers for you the supernatural gifts, the sign gifts, the purpose and why they’re no longer around today.
Now let’s talk about the service gifts, the ministry gifts. This is highly applicable for us today. Go back to 1 Corinthians 12. And when we talk about the sign gifts, we’re talking about gifts that are done away. That were meant to bring credibility or confirm the word with signs following. That’s what Mark 16:16 says. When we talk about the service gifts or the ministry gifts, we’re talking about gifts that God gave you in order to serve in the local new testament church. Now there are 11 service gifts that I see between 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. Those are the major chapters on this. But I don’t think these are the only ones. In fact I’m thinking about one right now which I will bring up in a second. But there are other ones that we find throughout the word of God.
But when we talk about the service gifts, we’re saying that God gives you an aptitude, he gives you a talent, he gives you an ability that God expects you to use for his service. So what are these gifts. Well let’s look at them. So we’re not talking about the supernatural gifts. We’re going to talk about the ministry gifts now. The gifts that God gives for ministering. 1 Corinthians 12:8 “8 For to one is given by the Spirit” Notice what it says “the word of wisdom;” So one of the gifts that God gives is the word of wisdom or the ability to have wisdom and to have wisdom maybe in a greater sense or in a greater ability than other individuals. Let me just give you one quick example of this. The Holy Spirit of God was coming upon individuals in the Old Testament and we see his work in the Old Testament. And here’s an example when someone is given the gift of the Word of Wisdom. 1 Kings 4:29 “29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.”.
James 1:5 “5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”. Let me just say a couple things about these service gifts. The service gifts, when you look at them these are gifts that we should all be attempting to do. These are things that we should all be trying to do. But there are going to be certain gifts that you are more prone to do or talented to do or given some aptitude. But we should all strive to be wise. We should all have wisdom. But from time to time you will run in to individuals that seem to be just have a little more wisdom than others. It seems like they have some wisdom beyond their age. It seems like they are able to look at situations and apply scriptural truths in a way that is maybe above or excels what the rest of us are able to do. So I want you to notice that one of the service gifts is the gift of the word of wisdom. Solomon is an example of someone giving extra wisdom or ability in that.
Let me show you the 2nd service gift. 1 Corinthians 12:8 “8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another” Notice. “the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;”. You say well, the gift of wisdom. Then you have the gift of knowledge. What’s the difference there? Aren’t those things pretty much the same. Flip over to 1 Corinthians 13. 1 Corinthians 13:2 “2 And though I have the gift of prophecy,” And we’ll talk about that in a minute “and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith,” And we have this famous charity chapter here. But he speaks about some people would have the gift of prophecy and he says that I might even have the gift of all mysteries and knowledge.
And here’s the truth. If you study this out or study this in your own life, you’ll find this to be true. Some people have been given the gift of wisdom. And some people have been given the gift of knowledge. Remember Ahithophel in the Old Testament. He had been given the gift of knowledge. The Bible says that if you went and inquired of Ahithophel, it was like you were inquiring at the oracles of God. The oracles of God is referring to the Bible. When you went and asked Ahithophel, it’s like you were asking the Bible. Because he was so knowledgeable about the word of God. Here’s the problem with Ahithophel, he had the gift of knowledge but not the gift of wisdom. He could answer any question you had but he lined himself up with the wrong guy, Abaslom. Because some people have been given the gift of knowledge.
I can think of individuals that are so smart. I mean they retain everything. They understand it, they can quote it to you, they can tell it to you. And then you watch them make decisions relationally. You watch them make decisions when they are dealing with people. You watch them make decisions when they are having to deal with situations. And you think to yourself, goodnight I thought you were smart. And the thing is that they are smart. They have been given the gift of knowledge but they lack some wisdom. There are some people who have just been given the gift of wisdom and it’s hard for them to remember the dates or exact reference. They have to really sit there and think about, “I think it’s in Proverbs but I’ll have to check”. And it’s hard for them to remember all of that. But God has given them some wisdom when they are dealing with a situation. They can kind of see through all the fog and issues and think well here is what should be done. They are able to take the knowledge they have from the word of God and leverage it in a way that can be used to properly help people.
And you say well why would God give wisdom to some people and knowledge to others? Here’s why. He doesn’t give everybody the same gifts. He gives everybody different gifts so we will all work together for the purpose of the gospel. It’s good to have some braniac eggheads who know everything about everything. They can tell you about Daniel’s 70th week and everything about the trumpets and the vials and this and that. But you know what, it’s also good to have some people who just have some good wisdom. Who say, “well I’ve read Daniel a lot and can’t remember all the details but you shouldn’t say that. You shouldn’t treat her that way. You shouldn’t talk like that.” There’s a difference, see knowledge is one thing but wisdom is applying the knowledge. I’m not here to tell you that one is better than the other. But some people have wisdom. Some people have knowledge. If we could learn to work together, we’d get a lot done. He said that some people have the gift of knowledge and some people have the gift of wisdom. Some people have the gift of faith. Or what I could call strong faith.
1 Corinthians 12:9 “9 To another faith by the same Spirit;”. It’s funny because Paul mentions this in his charity chapter, in the very next chapter. 1 Corinthians 13:2 “2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,”. Now look, we should all have faith. And if you’re saved then you at least have enough faith to get saved but some people have strong faith. I’ll get up here and say we are going to raise ____ amount of dollars with the Vision Offering, and they think “You know Pastor, I believe we can do it”. They believe it.
There are some other people, God bless you, I’m not mad at you. I love you. But there are some people when I announce a new ministry or new thing, I try to avoid them. Because whenever you say, “Bless God, we’re going to trust God by faith. We’re going to go plant this church. We’re going to go do this. We’re going to start a conference. We’re going to get a new building.”. You tell people and some people think, “You really think? I don’t know I just don’t think we can.”. And look, if that’s you, God bless you. But you need to line yourself with some people that have been given the gift of faith.
I’m not talking about foolishness but some people who just believe. They believe so much that they can remove mountains. We should all have faith. We should all have knowledge. We should all have wisdom. But there are some people who just seem like they have been given just a little more of that measure of faith. Or more of the measure of the ability to be able to discern and apply biblical knowledge to certain situations. Some people, they’ve just been given the ability to retain and learn and give out tracts and explain. These are gifts that are given by the Spirit.
Here’s another one. The Gift of Prophecy. That would be the gift of preaching. 1 Corinthians 12:10 “10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy;”. Some people have been given the gift of prophecy. Notice what he says in 1 Corinthians 13:2. “2 And though I have the gift of prophecy,”. Some people have the gift of prophecy. Go back to Romans 12. Romans 12:4 “4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:”. Remember we saw that word in 1 Corinthians 12. “5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,” That sounds like 1 Peter 4, remember? “whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;”.
So the Bible says that some people have been given the gift of prophecy. You don’t have to turn there but in 1 Timothy 3:1-2 “This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,” He’s saying you need to do all those things. But then he says “apt to teach;”. Apt to teach is not something that you create. It’s an aptitude that you have. It’s an ability that has been given to you. And here’s the point. I think every man that’s saved and has the Holy Spirit of God can get up and preach. I’m not at all saying that only those that have the gift of preaching should get up to preach. I think any spirit filled man that loves the Lord, is saved, can study the Bible and preach. I think you can get better at preaching. I think you can read books about preaching and read books about public speaking. And read books and take lessons and take notes and all those things.
And anybody as far as men are concerned can preach but you have to acknowledge the fact that some people have been given a gift by God. An ability to just naturally be able to preach. I think everyone should attempt to be wise. And to have wisdom. And to be able to understand what the Bible says. And have knowledge. And then try to apply that knowledge in to wisdom. I think everyone should try to have faith. All of these things are things that we should all try to do. But what happens is, and it really becomes fun in the Christian life, when you can find out what your spiritual gift is. The aptitude that God has given you. For some it’s wisdom. For some it’s knowledge. For some it’s faith. For some it’s prophesying. For some it’s the discerning of spirits.
1 Corinthians 12:10 “10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits;”. One of the gifts that God has given us is the discerning of spirits. The Bible says that God has given the gift from the Holy Spirit for some people to be able to smell a rat. Now look, there are some people who do not have the gift of discerning of spirits. I mean, God bless them, their heart is in the right place. They are loving people. They care for people. But they just don’t see it. I mean there are some people, I’m looking at an individual and say this is a bad person. How can you not be able to tell that this is a bad person? And others think they are great. They think they are wonderful.
You say, “Well I don’t have the gift of discerning of spirits”. There is nothing wrong with not having that gift. But you might want to line yourself up with someone who does. And you may want to learn to listen to someone that has that gift and that ability to be able to perceive at some things. And to be able to see some things. Because look, if you struggle with this, you’re just going to end up getting hurt and hurt and hurt. Line yourself up with someone who has that discerning of spirits. 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Now this is something we all should be doing. We should all be trying the spirits, whether they are of God. This is something that we should all as New Testament Christians should be attempting to do. But there are some people who don’t even have to try. They just observe someone for a little while and can tell if there is something wrong with someone. They can just tell that there is something wrong there. There is something off there. And God just gave them the ability through the Holy Spirit to be able to discern.
Go to Romans 12. Romans 12:7 “7 Or ministry,” In Romans 12 we have the list of the gifts. That word ministry means service or serving. Now again, I want you to make sure that you understand this. All of us should be doing this. Everyone should be serving. When it’s time to clean up, all of us should be cleaning. Right. When it’s time to do work, we should all be working and serving. But there are some people who have been gifted by God to serve. And it really helps the New Testament Church. My wife and I often talk about how we want everyone to help and everyone to serve but we know that if no one helps then there are certain individuals, there are certain people that they will help. Because it’s like God has gifted them to help. It’s just natural for them. They don’t see it as a burden. Where some of us think, man I really don’t want to help but it’s the right Christian thing to do. But others just jump right in and love to help. Why? Because they have been given that gift or aptitude.
Some of you guys think, “Man I don’t want to preach at a men’s preaching night but I kind of think I should. I’m going to try but it’s hard”. But for other guys it comes naturally. It doesn’t make one better than the other but it means you have a gift. You ought to try to identify the gift and work with that gift. Notice Romans 12:7 “7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;” Some people have been given a gift of teaching. Some preachers are better at teaching than preaching. Now look, we all ought to teach and preach. But some guys it comes more naturally to rip face and scream and yell. But some guys it comes more naturally to dig in to a passage and teach it and break it up. We should all have a balance where we do both. But realize that some people might have been given the gift of prophecy and some the gift of teaching. Now the ones that have the gift of teaching better make sure they do at least a little bit of preaching. And the ones that have the gift of preaching, they better make sure that they add some teaching. But sometimes when you understand the gifts you have and work within that gift, then God helps you as you come along side others who have gifts that you are lacking.
Romans 12:8 “8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation:”. Some people have the gift of encouragement. They’re just naturally able to encourage. There are some people who have the anti-gift of encouragement. If I’m having a bad day, I don’t want to get around you. But some people, you get around you and they lift you up. They encourage you. And they’re not fake. It’s just that God gave them a gift. They have a gift to be able to encourage. Those are the kinds of people that I want to get around my guests. Some people I’m thinking, please don’t let him talk to guests. I love him but he does not have the gift of encouragement. He has the gift of putting his foot in his mouth. There are just some people that God has given you certain spiritual gifts.
Look at Romans 12:8 “8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity;”. Did you know that some people have been given the gift of giving. Now look, we should all give. We should all be generous with our finances and give to the work of the Lord. But did you know that there are some people that God has gifted with the ability to give and be generous. They come in at the right time and give. And praise the Lord for it. Praise the Lord that there are just some people that the Lord has blessed financially and they don’t have any problems or issues. They don’t have bitterness in their hearts. They can just give and provide financially for the work of the Lord.
Notice Romans 12:8 “8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence;”. Ok, this is the gift of ruling or leadership. This is the gift of administration. Some people have been given the gift of administration. It just comes natural for them to try to organize things. To structure things. To create systems. Some people, they don’t have this gift. I know some Pastors, they don’t have this gift. “Oh they can’t be a Pastor”. No, it doesn’t mean they can’t be a Pastor. But it means they better get around some people that have the gift of administration. Some people have the gift of administration and they are good at it. Some people are not good at it. God has given all sorts of different gifts to different people.
Let me give you the last one here. Romans 12:8 “8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”. Some people have been given the gift of mercy. I lack this gift. But I’m working on it. But the gift of mercy is the gift of compassion. A perfect example of this is Barnabas in the New Testament. He had mercy and reached out to Saul when he was converted when the church didn’t want him around. Barnabas had mercy on him and brought him along and included him. And he invited him in to the assembly and vouched for him. Remember later on when John Mark would quit, Paul who did not have the gift of mercy, said I don’t want this guy around me. He’s a quitter and failure. But what did Barnabas do? He said I’ll take John Mark. Why? Because he had a gift of mercy. Was Barnabas better than Paul? Was Paul better than Barnabas? No, they just had different gifts. And when we find our gifts, when we find our giftedness, then we can be used of God. Go back to 1 Corinthians 12.
So let me just give you a run down of the gifts that we found in these chapters. You have the gift of the word of wisdom, the gift of the word of knowledge, the gift of faith or strong faith, the gift of prophecy or preaching, the gift of discerning spirits, the gift of ministry, the gift of teaching, the gift of exhorting, the gift of giving, the gift of ruling, the gift of mercy. You say Pastor Jimenez, how can I find my spiritual gifts? How can I identify my spiritual gifts? There are a couple ways that you can do it.
#1 – If you find yourself serving in a capacity that you don’t see it as a burden but you thrive in that, that’s probably a gift. Look, if organizing things and spreadsheets and excel spreadsheets and lists and to do lists and goals and those things, they make your eyes roll over in your head and you kind of just fall asleep. You probably haven’t been giving the gift of administration. But some people they like that stuff. You know, if you’re just kind of, it’s hard for you to be merciful. “That guy quit on us. I don’t want no quitter around me”. Hey Paul, praise the Lord. You’ve been given some gifts by God and God wants to use you. But maybe you’re not the guy that is supposed to encourage on Mark. You’re not the guy that we’re going to send out to help people that have failed. Let’s have Barnabas do that. It seems like he has been given that gift.
So what you need to find is the areas where you have been gifted and what you really are looking for is the areas that come easily to you. Or the areas that don’t drain you. If giving actually excites you, if giving actually doesn’t drain you but it actually fills you and you’re excited to do it, you probably have the gift of giving. If serving and working and cleaning, you’re happy to do it. You don’t mind it. You enjoy it. You actually like to clean and to serve and to help. You probably have the gift of serving. You need to find the areas that do not drain you. If something drains you then you probably aren’t gifted in that area. And if something comes naturally, if it’s an aptitude then you probably are gifted in that area.
And you know, I’ll tell you that as far as I can tell, as far as I can tell on this list, I believe that some of the gifts that I have, I think I have the gift of administration. I honestly think that’s the gift that I have. People often will come to our church and say, man this place is organized so well. I’ve never been to a church so well organized. And I think to myself, ya when I go to your church I feel drained the whole time. Like how do you guys live like this, you know. But it’s just, I think I’ve been given a gift. You know. And sometimes I feel bad for our staff. You know, I feel bad for Brother Oliver. I make Brother Oliver once a quarter sit with me in my office for an entire day.
And we put the projector up and the screen up, and we look at January, February, March, April – What are the major events happening in our church? Because we have some major events that happen around here. Mega Soulwinning Marathon, Married Couples Sweetheart Banquet, you know whatever. We write up all the lists. And we go through and make up a list of what are all of the actions, every step that needs to be done. What is everything that needs to be done in order for us to successfully accomplish this event or big day or whatever? Then we put dates on them. Then we line them up in to sequence by days. Then every Monday we look at that list and say, what needs to be done this week? What needs to be done this week? To successfully have a Red Hot Preaching Conference. For us to be able to successfully have an Easter service. For us to be able to successfully have a Mega Soulwinning Marathon. For us to be able to successfully have a Mother’s Tea. Some of you think “I Can’t believe you would do this”. But I thrive off of this. I think that’s a gift that God has given me.
I hope this doesn’t sound arrogant but I believe God has given me a gift of preaching. I’m not saying I’m the best Preacher but I do believe it comes naturally to me to stand up to preach and teach things and be able to grasp things in the word of God. And take things that are maybe a little complicated and be able to deliver it in a way that is easily understood. I believe that God has gifted me in that area. So it makes sense for me to be in the role of a Pastor. Because those are 2 major gifts that God has given me. That doesn’t make me better than you. It’s just 2 gifts that God has given me that I can use in that capacity. I’m not saying that you need the gift of administration to be a Pastor. But you better hire people that are organized, that can keep you organized.
Here’s what I’m saying. You have a gift. God has given you a gift. I’ll tell you what, I don’t have the gift of mercy. But I’ll tell you someone who has the gift of mercy, my wife. I’ll tell you the 3 gifts that she has, and I hope she’s ok with me saying this. But the 3 gifts that I can identify from my wife, the gift of mercy, the gift of exhortation. And I’m not trying to pop your bubble, some of you ladies. But one thing I often hear people say about my wife, they say that whenever they talk to her, they feel like she is her best friend. The truth is that she is my best friend. The truth is that she just has the gift, my wife will tell you from time to time, I make her do puzzling things. I make her do a hair cutting lesson, a home school seminar, and she doesn’t like those things. Now I think she does a good job at those things and she works at that but it drains her. It’s not where she is gifted. But she is really good at the one on one exhortation, the one on one mercy. But you know what, that’s great because I can do the public speaking but I’m not generally that great with the one on one. But she is. We balance ourselves.
I remember a long time, and maybe even now, but I remember a long time, there was a group of people didn’t like me or my preaching but they liked my wife. And they came just because they liked my wife. And as a Pastor I’m ok with that. I’m fine with that. I’ll give you another gift that I see in my wife. She definitely has the gift of discerning of spirits. I mean there have been several situations in our church where she called something and she said that person isn’t good, that person will be an issue, that person will be a problem, and honestly at first I was like, “No, no are you sure.”. And just every single time it was true. So you know what, whenever my wife says to me be careful about so and so, I think that I will make sure not to forget that. And here’s what I’m telling you, you have gifts that God has given you.
1 Corinthians 12:7 “7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” God has given you a gift. “8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;” Here’s a gift that is not mentioned here but in the Old Testament we learn of men, when the tabernacle and temple were being built, the Bible says that God filled them with the Spirit of Wisdom for workmanship. Where they were able to build things and work on things. You know some people have been given the gift to just see things, and build things and understand things. Now all of us could learn to work on things but for some people it comes naturally. I believe this is a gift that God has given them. Notice verse 7, “7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” Look at verse 11 “11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”. The Bible says that God gives a gift to everyone. And I want you to notice, notice verse 11 again. “11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” And notice the context right after this in verse 12. “12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”.
So the context is this, he’s saying that we are all a body, a local new testament church. And here’s what I know, if God placed you here then God gave you a gift that God expects you to use here. And we’ve all been given gifts but we’ve not all been given the same gifts. Some of us have been given gifts that are dependent on the gifts of others. You say, why does God do that? Because he expects us to work together and strive together as a local new testament body. So you need to find your giftedness and labor in it. And work in it. We need you. And here’s the point that I want to say and I’ll finish up. Don’t get too wound up about the gifts that you don’t have. There are some things and you think, I wish I had this.
Look, I wish I had the gift of speaking with tongues. Some people have been given the ability to pick up and learn languages. Now here is the honest truth, all of us could learn a language if we really wanted to. But some people, you know, they are not drained by learning a language and it just excites them. Well that is a gift that God has given you. Learn the languages, preach the gospel in a different language. So do the things that excite you, not drain you. And work in those gifts.
I tell preachers, because I believe I have the administration gift, so I’ve got my sermons lined up for the next 12 weeks. I mean I can tell you what I’m preaching next Sunday. I already told you what we’re preaching about Reasoning the Resurrection. Next sermon, Reasoning the Word of God. Then Reasoning Creation. The Sunday after that, Mother’s Day. Then Nicodemus and the Encounters with Christ series we are starting. I tell that to some preachers and they say, “That’s way too much information for me”. But you know what, I need that. I thrive off that. If I didn’t have that, man, every Monday I would be miserable. “What am I going to preach this week?”. For some guys that scares them. They think “I don’t know how you do that. That’s crazy. That’s too much”.
Here’s what I’m saying. Figure out where you are gifted and work on it. Figure out what excites you vs. what drains you. And in the areas where you are drained. In the areas where you think, I don’t know how you do that. I don’t know how you like that. In the areas you are drained, find someone who is excited about that and partner with them. But the goal is that we would all be united as a body. The goal is that we would all bring our gifts to the ministry of the local new testament church. You say why? That God might be glorified. And that the work of God might continue in the world.
Let’s pray.