The Gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12.1-11)

Introduction

This is the last in our series of talks on the Holy Spirit. Since the middle of May we’ve been looking at the ministry, the power, the anointing, the outpouring, the freedom, the fruit, the fullness – and now, finally, the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Do you know anyone, maybe someone in your family, (an Uncle Norman or an Auntie Edna perhaps) who seems to have a flair for choosing crass and tasteless presents? We have, in our extended family, (and she shall remain anonymous) an absolute legend for this. We love her for it. She is the source of the best Christmas entertainment in our home. So eccentrically useless are her offerings that we save them till last and then collapse - crying laughing. You could write a book about it.

On the other hand, we all know people who have a real talent for choosing the best presents imaginable. I’m useless at this. You might as well blindfold me and get me to a pin in an Argos catalogue. But some people just have a feel for whether you prefer practical presents or frivolous ones, something surprising and novel or something classic. They seem to have a 6th sense for maximising your happiness.

With the Holy Spirit it’s neither one nor the other. Because the gifts he gives you are not given for you to enjoy and say, “Oh, that’s what I’ve always wanted.” Verse 7 of our reading in 1 Corinthians says, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” In other words, the gifts he gives to one are designed to be appreciated by all.

An old lady once said to her vicar, “Oh reverend, I believe I have been given just one gift; the gift of song.” She wanted to worm her way into the choir but the choirmaster had banned her because she had a voice like an alley cat on heat. So the vicar said, “Tell me, where in the Bible does it talk about multiplying the gifts given to us?” The lady thought for a moment and said, “That would be the parable of the talents, wouldn’t it?” “That’s right,” said the vicar, “Matthew 25. And, tell me,” he said, “what did the man who had just one talent do with his coin?” The lady knew her Bible really well. “He went and buried his talent in the ground.” “That’s right,” said the vicar, “Now go and do likewise!”

I’ve known people in my time with the gift of awkwardness, the gift of unreliability, the gift of gossip and the gift of unpleasant criticism and those ministries are rarely for the common good! Let’s give these “gifts” a good burial…

The Right Approach

Before we take a look at what some of these spiritual gifts are, I want us to consider together what God says our approach towards spiritual gifts should be. And I want to illustrate this by sharing with you the three attitudes I have come across most often in 30 or so years of being a Christian.

First of all, people sometimes say to me (or they imply it by their general ignorance about spiritual gifts), “Oh, I’m not really charismatic, I don’t really know much about it and, to be honest, it doesn’t really interest me anyway.” Sounds reasonable at first, doesn’t it? I mean, we can’t be experts on everything and if I’m just not all that enthusiastic about geology or botany, for example, why should I make myself study it?

But in 1 Corinthians 12.1 it says, “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” Therefore, it is not God’s will for us to be unaware or unacquainted with spiritual gifts. God wants us to learn about them and to know about them. It is important for us to understand what they are, how we receive them and what they are designed to do. It’s important to discover which gifts we have and how we should use them properly. So, first of all, learn about spiritual gifts. This is a biblical imperative.

Secondly, some people say, “Oh well, God gives us gifts according to his will and purpose, so I’ll just wait and see what he gives me, maybe I’ll have this particular gift, maybe not. It’s just up to him really. I’ll just sit back and see what happens.”

But in 1 Corinthians 14.1 it says, “eagerly desire spiritual gifts.” That means God expects us to actively and enthusiastically seek them. Spiritual gifts are never presented to us in God’s word as an optional extra for special interest groups. Look at the way kids get excited at Christmas time by all those colourful boxes under the tree! Are they eagerly desiring gifts? You bet! “Eagerly desire spiritual gifts.” Do you?

I’ve heard people say, “Oh, this gifts of the Holy Spirit thing – it’s all a bit hyper spiritual for me. Why isn’t it enough just to love the Lord with all my heart and love my neighbour as myself?” But this verse says, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.” It’s not either/or. God says here “do both.”

Thirdly, people sometimes say, “I once received a certain gift – but I haven’t used it for years.” “I used to pray for healing and God did some wonderful things, but I just haven’t got time these days.” Or “I once spoke in tongues, but I felt self conscious about it and haven’t done so for years.” Or tiredness; I often meet tired Christians and I have a theory that tiredness can sometimes be due to resisting what the Holy Spirit is doing and saying. Gifts can fall into disuse for all sorts of reasons.

But 1 Peter 4.10 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.”

There was a programme on TV the other week about model railway enthusiasts who go to auctions and buy model trains in their display case that have never been opened. These things never actually get out of their boxes let alone go round a track. Now God says that that every one of us has been given gifts and they are designed for use, not for display.

On 27th May 1840 Niccolo Paganini, arguably the greatest violinist of all time, lay dying. He reached from his bed to hold just once more the instrument he loved. But as his fingers brushed over the strings he died. He was just 58. A few days later, his will was opened and read. It disposed of a fortune of about 2 million lire in cash, a large amount of property and securities across several European countries. After providing for his sisters, everything else was to go to his son, Achille.

However, the will stipulated that Paganini’s favourite violin would be kept in the Genoa municipal museum. His son fought hard to acquire it, because it was the last object his father touched. But the city fathers refused to waive the right given to them in the will. Achille offered them a valuable marble bust in exchange for the violin but the mayor refused. To this day, Paganini’s violin is never played; it stands lifeless in a glass case, surrounded by other artifacts.

A friend of mine told me recently that he had allowed his spiritual gift to fall into disuse for years. Like that violin, it was little more than a relic and its non use was a tragedy. He asked me to pray with him, and I did, and God fanned into flame that gift that had been dormant for years.

What’s your spiritual gift? Is it like a museum relic – or like a miniature Flying Scotsman shut away in its cardboard display box? Or are you using your gift to serve others and build up the church, in the power that the Holy Spirit gives you? Maybe you will want to pray with a member of the prayer ministry team about that a bit later on. I’d like to encourage you to do that.

Different Gifts

How many spiritual gifts do you think there are? In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul draws up a list of nine. There are other lists in Romans 12 and 1 Peter 4 as well that include things like leadership, hospitality, encouragement and giving. I’ve counted 25 different gifts in total but the Bible may not list them all.

Not only are there different gifts, they are really diverse in nature as well. In our short passage here there are four different category words to describe the variety and diversity there is; in v1 and 4 they are called “gifts”; but in v5 they are called “kinds of service”; in v6 they are called “workings”; and in v8 they are called “manifestations.” So let’s not imagine we are comparing like with like – prophecy is very different to administration and encouragement is not like the discerning of spirits. The prophetic ministry needs to be weighed and handled in a way that administration does not. Encouragement feeds the flock but the discernment of spirits protects the flock.

We could be here for hours defining what each spiritual gift is and what it does, but we just don’t have the time. We’re going to look at just three gifts this morning, the first three mentioned in our reading. But - I have made some copies of a Spiritual Gift Self Evaluation that I used with the Launch team this year so if you’re interested in learning about these gifts and identifying which ones you might have, this might be of help to you. There are copies here.

The first two gifts mentioned in v8 are the message of wisdom and the message of knowledge. (In some versions it is translated “the word of wisdom” and “the word of knowledge”). Notice that the Bible doesn’t say exactly here what these gifts are so we have to work it out by looking for clues here and elsewhere in Scripture.

We know that both these gifts involve speech; it’s a message of knowledge and a message of wisdom. We know that they are more than just natural good judgment or cleverness. Words of knowledge and wisdom are not a phenomenon you see on the Brain of Britain or Mastermind because Paul says in v8 that these gifts come “through the Spirit” not through good genes or disciplined learning. They are inspired and supernatural insights.

We know too that when these words are given the result will be that God’s people will be strengthened. Because, as we saw earlier, v8 says “the manifestation of the Spirit is for the common good.” These gifts build everyone up.

Bringing these threads together it is possible to arrive at some kind of understanding of what these gifts must be. Mark Stibbe in his book “Know Your Spiritual Gifts” defines the word of wisdom as “the gift of being able to understand and express something of God’s wisdom, in such a way that the church is built up and strengthened.”

Bill Subritsky in his book “Receiving the Gifts of the Holy Spirit” defines the word of knowledge as “a thought, or impression on the mind, or a vision or the direct audible voice of the Holy Spirit about a situation.”

I think those are good summaries of what these gifts are. And when you read the Bible you can find good examples of them. In one passage I think you see them both together.

If you remember the story in John 4 about the woman at the well, you could say that Jesus had a word of knowledge about her complicated love life. Out of nowhere he turns the conversation decisively by saying, “Go call your husband.” She says, “I don’t have one.” He says, “That’s right. You have already been married five times and now you are living with a man you are not married to.” How did he learn that? He didn’t. It was a message of knowledge that disarmed her, lowered her defenses and softened her resistance to God’s call on her life.

Once he had done that, he had a word of wisdom to redirect that conversation from her messy private life to her need to know God. “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

She says, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he does, he will explain everything to us.” Jesus says, “It’s me, right here.” And that’s all she needs. She is a disciple and goes off to tell everyone about Jesus.

So that’s the message of wisdom and knowledge. In v9 Paul adds the gift of faith to the list. Why is faith a special gift given only to some? Don’t all Christians have faith? I mean, can you actually be a Christian without faith? Of course, we are saved by grace, through faith. If God were not gracious towards us and if we did not have a response of faith we would not be children of God. But God gives a gift of faith to some Christians, and not to others. Therefore, saving faith and the gift of faith are not the same thing.

The gift of faith seems to be a surge of confidence in God’s ability to intervene. It’s faith that rises up and believes against all odds. When you have a gift of faith you just know that whatever challenge you’re faced with, however hard life is God can do it. Peter had it (briefly) when he stepped out of the boat to walk on water. It’s what those four men had, the ones who lowered their friend through a roof, so that Jesus might heal him, if you remember the story.

There are six other gifts here; gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues and interpretation of tongues. I believe they are all available today, indeed I have seen each of these gifts over the last three decades and I am grateful to God for the way they strengthen the church.

The Body

But the purpose of this passage is not to define what each gift is and describe what it looks like. Paul doesn’t really do that. The main interest here is to explain who the gifts are given to and how they find expression in the church. You can often tell what a passage in the Bible is all about by identifying the word that is repeated most. In 1 Corinthians 12.1-11 it’s the word “another.” “To another is given faith, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy…” The point here is that everybody has different gifts and nobody has them all. That means everybody, without exception, has a significant part to play. It also means that nobody, least of all the vicar, has every gift. It’s why healthy churches develop shared leadership and create teams.

I thank God for the variety of spiritual gifts here but, like most churches, we probably illustrate the 30/70 law. That means 30% of the people are doing 70% of the work. That means a lot of spiritual gifts are probably unidentified and underused, while some people are ministering at full capacity – and approaching burnout.

I’m no laureate, but I wrote a poem on this theme this week and it goes like this.

Mary had a little lamb, ‘twas given her to keep,
But then it joined the local church and died for lack of sleep.
Mary’s lamb spent endless hours in meeting after meeting
And the sermons that it preached each week? Well, what a waste of bleating!
It preached and sang and cooked and typed and tidied for the Lord
Not seeing there were other lambs available and bored.
It wasn’t their bone idleness or apathy or sloth
No, some were shy and some were meek; for some a case of both.

So when the church is going wrong and splitting at the seams
Remember God gives gifts to all and churches are like teams.
Instead of all that stress and strain and everything amiss
If everyone had used their gifts it might have gone like this:
Mary had a little lamb, who served the local church
Helping sheep to find their gifts, so none was in the lurch
Everything went wonderfully; the whole flock did just fine
And Mary’s lamb lived to the ripe old age of eighty-nine.

Ending

I’m going to end there. But before I do, I have a bar of chocolate here. And it’s free for anyone who comes up here and asks me for it...

In James 4.2 it says, “You do not have because you do not… ask.”

This is how you receive spiritual gifts and you won’t receive any if you don’t ask. Jesus said “How much more will God give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.” May God pour out his gifts abundantly on us, as we eagerly desire them, that the church will be strengthened and he will be glorified.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 12th July 2009

The Freedom of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3.12-18, John 8.34-36)

Introduction

I’d like to start by telling two little stories, both of which occur in churches and are, I am told, absolutely true.

Some years ago the Church of England, in its unfathomable wisdom decided to authorise a whole series of new liturgies. Many vicars, brought up on the Book of Common Prayer and the Alternative Service Book, had a bit of difficulty negotiating their way round the new prayer liturgy. For decades they had been saying “The Lord is here” and the unanimous response was always “His Spirit is with us.” But one day, one vicar began his Eucharistic Prayer saying, “The Lord is here,” only to be met with stone silence. He looked down at his prayer book, tapped the microphone, and said it again. “The Lord is here.” Still no response. And so he said it a third time. “The Lord… is here, is he?” And the curate said back, “Not in Prayer B, he’s not!”

The other incident occurred during a sermon in a Congregational church, where a visiting minister was waxing eloquently on his text for the day, Matthew 25 (the parable of the ten virgins). The problem is, he gravely underestimated the spirituality of his audience. So after having preached his heart out he ended his sermon with this ringing exhortation: “And you young men up there in the gallery, where would you rather be, in the light with the wise virgins or in the dark with the foolish ones?” And he got a unanimous and vocal reply. And it wasn’t the one he was expecting either!

Legalism or License?

Two little anecdotes which we may find amusing or entertaining – but there is a serious point. The first story is about legalism and the second story is about license.

Legalists say, “The most important thing of all is not Jesus but protocol and procedure.” For legalists Christianity is better than Christ. And when it comes to the church, they like to put the steeple before the people. No matter that the place is unwelcoming to any young children who might come along, this hard furniture and cold buildings are what we’ve always had.

Have you ever had the embarrassing experience of waiting at traffic lights and then stalling your car as soon as the lights turn green? It usually happens when you are in a hurry for something. What a joy it is, and how helpful, when the cars behind start bibbing at you… This is what happened to a young lady one evening. No matter how hard she tried, the car wouldn’t start again; so she gave it some choke and then the carburettor must have flooded. The man behind her could have simply drove round her bit, no, he decided that getting cross and leaning on his car horn would be much more helpful. Beeeeb… So she got out of her car, walked towards him, opened his car door and said, “I’ve got a better idea. How about you try and start my car and I sit in yours, hooting at you like a demented owl?

Like that man, some Christians are very fond of the rules and love to tell people what to do, but never help anyone to it. So you spend all your life trying to attain a standard and never manage.

Licentious people on the other hand say, “The church is too stiff and boring. The most important thing is not stuffy old Bible study and doing what Jesus says, but doing whatever you want.”

During the 1980’s a parish church I know in London put up posters on a notice board which was situated on a main road. Every four or five weeks there was a new poster with a new message. One month, there was a picture of a marathon runner looking absolutely exhausted; every muscle of his body was straining and his face was twisted in pain. The caption read, “Are you tired of sin? If so, come inside.” Quite effective... until some joker from the neighbourhood scribbled underneath, “If not tired of sin yet, call Debbie on 457 8141!”

What Freedom Looks Like

Our readings this morning extol neither stiff legalism nor sinful license; they commend spiritual liberty. 2 Corinthians 3.17 says: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Freedom by Zenos Frudakis

In other words, the Christian life, the Church, its structures, its forms, its services of worship, its fellowship and all public presentation of faith in Jesus should normally be characterised by a sense of grace and liberty - and a noticeable absence of restrictive heaviness.

It’s actually quite difficult to express what the freedom of the Spirit is; it’s an elusive thing, but you know it when it’s there and you miss it when it’s gone. Wherever the Holy Spirit is at work, you notice an open mood of generous friendliness with an absence of judging or criticism – and no spirit of competition. Spiritually, you can discern a healthy unity; it is most agreeable.

But the Spirit’s freedom can be so easily lost, because every Christian runs the risk of falling into legalism on the one hand and into license on the other. Churches too often fall into these extremes. Paul wrote Galatians to fight legalism and 1 Corinthians to combat license. Which tendency do you lean towards the most if you’re honest? Licentiousness or legalism? Which of the two is the greatest threat to your freedom in the Spirit? Stifling the Holy Spirit or just doing your own thing?

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Question; how free? If you asked Jesus that question I think he’d reply, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” In other words, freer than this doesn’t exist. But freedom from what? And freedom into what? If I am really free indeed am I free to sin? Can I rebrand the Ten Commandments as the ten suggestions and be free to observe only those that are convenient?

It’s not that we are free to sin. But it’s not that we are not free to sin either. It’s a category error. The truth is we are free not to sin. The Holy Spirit sets us free from the minute by minute burden of remembering rules and laws about the minutiae of existence and frees us to please God in unfettered joy.

And v18 shows how this works: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

That is a description of true liberty; it’s a personal transformation that reflects God’s splendour and glory. It’s a work of the Spirit. It results in radiant faces. Time and time again, I’ve seen people become more beautiful, more radiant, more youthful, as their lives are so touched by God’s grace that their faces shine with and the joy of the Lord.

That’s what freedom of the Holy Spirit looks like. So how do you get it? How do you live in the glorious liberty of the children of God? The key is in v18 – it is “contemplating the Lord’s glory.” This is the secret! We change and grow into the likeness of Christ by marvelling at the splendour of his countless perfections. We come to resemble what we attentively admire. We know this works on a human level, don’t we? We talk about those we love and esteem and think about as leaving their mark on us.

Ending

Are you free? Do you feel like you are? Do you want to be? Learn, as I too am learning, to contemplate the glory, the beauty, the radiance, the excellence, of Christ; his humility, his authority, his mercy, his words, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection – and we will be changed from glory to glory, in the freedom of the Holy Spirit.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 5th July 2009