THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
First Corinthians 12, part three
Introduction
I am struck by the Apostle Paul's almost nonchalant mention of extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit right alongside those we commonly consider more ordinary. For example: In his lists of the gifts he mentions "healings" alongside "helps"; he mentions "miracles" alongside "ministry"; he mentions "tongues" alongside "teaching." Healings, miracles, and tongues seem so extraordinary to us; helps, ministry, and teaching seem so ordinary.
Paul evidently intended for us to realize that all of the gifts are to be regarded as both extraordinary and ordinary:
Gifts - all of them, no matter how ordinary they may seem to us - are to be regarded as extraordinary. They are the supernatural enabling given to believers of every age by the Holy Spirit.
Gifts - all of them, no matter how extraordinary they may seem to us - are to be regarded as ordinary, in this sense: It should be our ordinary expectation that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit be at work in the Church.
Keep this in mind as we continue our discussion of the gifts. For the purposes of our study we have put the gifts in three categories: Speaking gifts, sign gifts, and serving gifts. All are extraordinary, yet it should be our ordinary expectation that they be at work in the life of our Church.
Last week we took a look at the speaking gifts: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, prophecy, the discerning of spirits, tongues, the interpretation of tongues, teaching, and exhortation. This week we want to look at the sign gifts and the serving gifts: faith, gifts of healings, the working of miracles; helps, administrations, ministry, giving, mercy, and hospitality.
#1 The Holy Spirit Gives
Some Of You Sign Gifts
Certain gifts of the Holy Spirit are called "sign" gifts because they typically followed the preaching of the Word of God by the apostles to signify, as a sign, that their message was true. Faith, gifts of healings, and the working of miracles are usually put into this category; prophecy, tongues and the interpretation of tongues are usually put in this same category.
It is argued by many competent Bible scholars that these sign gifts were given only in the first century to authenticate the message of the apostles for the initial founding of the Church. They say that once the New Testament was completed, the Church had no more need for such sign gifts; thus, they believe these gifts have ceased. We call these conservative believers cessationists.
Did certain gifts of the Spirit cease?
No, they didn’t! None of the gifts of the Holy Spirit has ceased. I say that for many reasons; let me give you just one.
All the gifts were in operation in Corinth. This letter would be the ideal place to tell them and us that the sign gifts they were abusing were actually going to cease to function. Instead of telling them and us that certain gifts would cease, Paul instructs them and us on the proper Scriptural exercise of all the gifts.
To be fair I must mention and call your attention to three verses in First Corinthians thirteen. Look with me at verses eight, nine and ten:
1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
1 Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
1 Corinthians 13:10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
At least two sign gifts are mentioned - "prophecies" and "tongues." They are said by cessationists to represent all the sign gifts. The Bible says they will "cease… be stilled… [and] pass away." I agree; but exactly when will they "cease… be stilled… [and] pass away?"
They will cease "when perfection comes." If "perfection" is interpreted to refer to the completion of the New Testament, then, with the completion of the New Testament, the sign gifts "ceased."
However, "perfection" in this context is very definitely not a reference to the completed New Testament. It is a reference to the eternal heavenly state of believers. What Paul is saying is that one day all spiritual gifts will cease; but that day is when we are in the presence of Jesus in heaven. In the mean time, all the gifts are given and are to function within Scriptural guidelines in order to manifest and reveal Jesus in and through His Church on earth.
The real problem that people have with the sign gifts is the abuses they see in charismaniac churches! Corinth was a charismaniac Church. Paul did not tell them to cease; he corrected them. Correction, not cessation, is what the Church needs.
The Holy Spirit gives some of you sign gifts: faith, gifts of healings, and the working of miracles.
The gift of faith needs to be distinguished from the faith all believers have. If you are a Christian, you have faith. The gift of faith is not simply having more faith; it’s not something you learn or earn. It must be given to you by God. The gift of faith is a supernatural enabling given to some and not to all by the Holy Spirit. It is the enabling to discern with supernatural confidence the will and purposes of God in a given situation or circumstance. It is the Holy Spirit endowing you with the confidence that God is going to work a certain way in a specific crisis or for a specific opportunity.
You often see the gift of faith at work in the New Testament in conjunction with healings and miracles. As Peter passed by the lame man at the gate of the Temple in Acts chapter twelve, he exercised the gift of faith by commanding him to rise up and walk. Was that a gift of healing? The working of a miracle? It was both a healing and a miracle; but it would have been neither if not for the gift of faith to have the confidence that God was going to work a certain way in that specific situation!
Gifts of healings are next on Paul's list. This gift is mentioned in the plural; there are gifts of healings, not the gift of healing. This suggests that each exercise of the gift of healing is a separate enabling by the Holy Spirit. In other words, no one has the gift of healing to go around healing at will; it is under the sovereign control of the Holy Spirit. You don’t have the gift of healing; you are granted individual gifts of healings when God sees fit to use you to heal.
Healings occurred with some frequency in the Old Testament. Healings were a large part of the New Testament : They were a major part of the ministry of Jesus; the apostles had gifts of healings. This naturally gives rise to two questions:
Both questions can be adequately answered by remembering that God is sovereign over gifts of healings! Even in the life of Jesus and in the ministry of the apostles there were times that gifts of healings were not exercised. In the life of Jesus and in the ministry of the apostles there were times that not everyone was healed. In fact, the very lame man that was healed by Peter was not healed by Jesus Christ during the Lord’s ministry on earth.
I like what Pastor Chuck says:
"If you are sick, I encourage you to pray and to believe and trust God for your healing. I know that God can heal you, and I encourage you to trust in Him for that healing. Let medical science do what it can, but know that it has limitations. God is not limited, however, and God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think... He does heal.
When God does not heal you, or give you a gift of healing for someone else, then you must believe that it is His will to allow the affliction. The same apostle Paul who wrote to the Corinthians about gifts of healings also told them,
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
2 Corinthians 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Paul also described a physical affliction in his own life that the Lord chose to not heal:
2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
A miracle is an event that supersedes known natural laws. Moses parting the Red Sea; Joshua parting the Jordan River; Elisha raising the Shulamite's dead son; Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead; those are miracles. The Gospels are crammed with miracles. The Book of Acts is crammed with miracles.
As with gifts of healings, this gift is in the plural. "Working of miracles" is the translation of two Greek words which mean operations of supernatural powers. No one has the gift of working miracles; each working of a miracle is a separate gift for a special crisis or opportunity. If the question is, "Why don't we see more miracles today?," again the answer is, "The Sovereignty of God!"
We talked about prophecy, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues last week under the category of speaking gifts. Those who see them as temporary sign gifts simply do not understand their proper operation in the Church.
Sign gifts were being misused and abused in Corinth; they are still being misused and abused in charismaniac Churches today. But there is no compelling Scriptural reason to say that they have ceased. We should instead seek to correct their abuse and use them according to Scripture. The Holy Spirit still distributes faith, gifts of healings, and the working of miracles as He sees fit. Prophecy, tongues and their interpretation are still for today.
#2 The Holy Spirit Gives
Some Of You Serving Gifts
At the end of chapter twelve, in verse twenty-eight, Paul mentions two more gifts: helps and administrations. These are two of the serving gifts. Some others are mentioned by Paul in Romans twelve: ministry, giving, leadership, and showing mercy. As we take a brief look at them, don't think them ordinary because they seem more common to you. The same Holy Spirit Who enables healings enables helps; the same Holy Spirit Who enables miracles enables ministry.
Helps is first mentioned in First Corinthians 12:28. Helps involves seeing a need and then doing all you can to meet it.
There are many needs among God's people; no one person can minister to them all. God will show you a need; when He does, it could be that He is also calling you to meet it in His power.
If you have the gift of helps you will want to serve with joy, no matter how tedious the task. And you won't be discouraged by lack of encouragement or recognition. Those graced with the gift of helps do their service for the Lord and look to Him for their reward and recognition.
Next you read of the gift of administrations; this is called leadership in Romans 12:8. The KJV calls it "governments."
Most of you, at one time or another, will be in some position of administration or leadership. This is true if you are a husband; this is true if you are a wife; this is true of all parents; this is true of many occupations. All of us should lead others by love, looking to Jesus as our example.
There is also the gift of administrations. This is the supernatural enabling to manage the affairs of the Church with both diligence and compassion.
The Church has often gone wrong at this point. Often we look for a measure of material success in someone's life as the indicator they are a leader or administrator. While financial or occupational success does not disqualify you for leadership, it does not necessarily qualify you, either. Like the other gifts we must keep in mind that it is the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit that is needed to properly govern the Church and not the methods and machinery of human business and government.
The gift of ministry is mentioned in Romans twelve. Some prefer to call it "serving" because "minister" has become a technical word. All believers are called upon to be servants and to serve the Lord. Some have a spiritual gift of serving. It is similar to the gift of helps, but a different Greek word is used. Some say that helps and serving go together: Helps is the attitude and serving is the attitude in action.
Giving is a spiritual discipline that all believers are to practice. When we talk about giving we're definitely talking about money. It's true, you also give of your time and talent; but the Bible has a lot to say about giving of your money as well.
The New Testament principles for giving are found in Second Corinthians 8 and 9. Paul says that your giving is to be motivated by grace as you have personally purposed in your heart; that it is to be willing, honest, unpretentious, regular and cheerful. You are left to discover the amount! Paul knew that, when grace is your motive, you will give generously, because you will be reflecting upon the grace that God has so richly and generously bestowed upon you in salvation.
Besides the discipline of giving that every Christian should develop, there are some who have the gift of giving. In Romans twelve Paul qualifies the gift of giving by using the term "liberality." The gift of giving is the enabling the Holy Spirit gives some of you to contribute your material resources with great liberality in order to support and further the work of the local Church.
Barnabas had the gift of giving. In the Book of Acts, he is reported to have sold a piece of property in order to give all the proceeds to the Church for the needs of the ministry.
"Showing mercy with cheerfulness" is next on the list of gifts. You all need to show mercy, whether you have the gift or not. Jesus commanded you, in Luke 6:36, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Since God is merciful - not giving you what you deserve - you will be merciful if you have His nature in you.
The gift of mercy is something more, something given to certain members of the Church as the Holy Spirit sees fit to do so. You will be drawn to people who are in distress and you will desire to express God's love and forgiveness towards them. One author described this as "joyful compassion; getting on the inside of another person while bringing a cheerfulness to their wounded heart; the ability to empathize with another person going through difficulties and help them realize the great love and forgiveness God has for them."
That exhausts the gifts listed in Romans 12, but I want to mention one more gift. In First Peter 4:9-10 you read,
1 Peter 4:9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
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.
Most Bible commentators list hospitality as a gift of the Spirit. You are all called upon to show hospitality in caring for the needs of others; but some have a gift for it. You don't have to have the biggest house, or the nicest set of dishes, or anything like that. The gift of hospitality is a spiritual enabling that transcends your physical possessions. It is a thoughtfulness for the care of others that really thinks of their needs.
The gift of hospitality isn't just opening up your home to others; it involves opening up your heart to truly serve their needs. When ministers or missionaries come to visit our fellowship, I always ask them if they would prefer to stay in a hotel or a home. Many are relieved to stay in a hotel! You see, so often they are put up in homes but, rather than being ministered to, they are expected to entertain their hosts. They get little or no sleep, and even worse food!
Conclusion
We have now talked briefly about these gifts:
The speaking gifts - the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, prophecy, the discerning of spirits, tongues, the interpretation of tongues, teaching, and exhortation.
The sign gifts - faith, gifts of healings, and the working of miracles.
The serving gifts - helps, ministry, giving, administrations, mercy, and hospitality.
We won't look at some gifts we could have discussed - apostle, evangelist, and pastor-teacher. Those will have to wait for another time. I’m not really sure how many gifts of the Holy Spirit there are; I’m not sure it matters. What matters is that you be looking to serve others. God will gift you accordingly.
What should your response be? It's summed up by Paul when he says, in First Corinthians 12:31, "earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way."
The more excellent way is to walk in love towards others, described so masterfully in First Corinthians Thirteen! Determine to walk in love and you will desire the gift or gifts that will most help you share God's love with others.
Gifts are not the goal; they are the gateway. They are the gateway to revealing the presence and love of Jesus to His people, the Church. Determine to walk in love and you will discover your gifts.