By Diane Barstow
This morning we will discuss some of the other gifts that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians, and Romans. And also in 1 Peter.
1 Corinthians 12:4-10
“Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”
Romans 12:6-9a
“Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy according to the proportion of his faith; if service in his serving, or he who teaches in his teaching; or he who exhorts in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness, Let love be without hypocrisy…”
1 Corinthians 12:28-31
“And God has appointed in the Church, first apostles, second Prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” Stay tuned for more on this later!
1 Peter 4:10-11
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Are the gifts for today? God is still speaking to people, the Holy Spirit is
still calling men and women (supernaturally) to repent and turn from their
wicked ways and be saved! Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, after he spoke long ago to the
fathers in the prophets, in many portions and in many ways, in these last
days, has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,
through whom also he made the world.” God replaced the prophets with The
Prophet (Det 18:15), and now that He is not on earth any longer, He has
left His Holy Spirit within us (naturally) to speak forth for Him! That’s
why the gifts are still in use today, because He hasn’t come back to take
His place on the throne! Gifts of the Spirit are to work hand in hand with
the fruit of the Spirit.
All these gifts must be motivated, given, and received with love. You’ll notice that Paul addresses the misuse of the gifts of the Spirit in chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, then gives specific, practical instruction on proper usage in chapter 14, and sandwiched in between is the LOVE CHAPTER! Unless all these things are done in and through love - they’re useless and a waste of time!
Ephesians 4:11-13
“And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
In this passage we see that offices are listed as they pertain to the
education and building up of the church. Some of these offices are still in
play today - think Greg Laurie as Billy Graham’s successor to the office of
evangelist of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth. While some claim the
title, i don’t believe we have a man in the office of Apostle, nor do we
currently have men in the office of Prophet of God {as some title
themselves} (side note - not untilwe’re evacuated from the earth
and the 2 witnesses appear during the tribulation). These 2 men whom I
believe to be Enoch and Elijah, will proclaim God’s judgment on the
inhabitants of the earth, and then will be martyred (Rev 11). Some men are
pastors, the Greek word is shepherd, which is used literally of someone who
cares for sheep, and figuratively of someone who cares for the members of
God’s church on earth. Some men serve as both offices - shepherd and
teacher, such as Chuck Smith {and IMO Steve Carr}. Also some teach but not
pastor as theological instructors at seminaries {John-boy Doss is an
example}
Pastor Steve has provided a handy breakdown of the gifts of the Spirit.
First are the ministry gifts - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors,
teachers. {Adrienne covered these} Second are Revelation gifts - the Word
of Wisdom, Word of knowledge, distinguishing of spirits. Next are the gifts
of power - faith, healing, and miracles. Next are the verbal gifts -
prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, teaching, and exhortation.
Last are the gifts of service - administration, giving, leading, mercy, and
helps.
You’ll recognize many of these gifts from stories in the old testament. Many
were transitory - the Holy Spirit came upon a person and they were given a
supernatural ability for the moment. It’s not necessary for me to go into
depth regarding these gifts because we’re going to do a ‘deep-dive’ on July
11th. This is more of a BOLO ‘be on lookout’ for these gifts to be deployed
in the public service setting and in your personal life
Faith is the universal component for all of these gifts - without faith we
cannot use the gifts, not receive them! Faith is KEY!
The revelatory gifts:
Word of wisdom - (logos sofia) wisdom is the proper application of the facts. It’s the supernaturally provided ability to perceive, communicate, and apply God’s wisdom. The gift of the word of wisdom doesn't mean YOU have a reservoir of wisdom, it means an anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon you in time of need and gives you the right words to say when wisdom is needed. The words solve difficulties, the words bring reconciliation, the words bring us closer to the Lord, the words can answer deeply private unspoken questions - explain things you had not understood previously. This gift can be deployed (purposely) or unconsciously in conversation, during prayer, or when someone asks, “What do you think?” or asks for your advice, “What should I do?” I have experienced times when the Holy Spirit reminded me of a scripture, or a biblical principle which was a word of wisdom. This gift operates during teaching, or answering the questions of others, also with prophecy or word of knowledge and public assembly.
Word of knowledge - (logos gnosis) the ability to know the truth without
being told. This is information given to us supernaturally, knowledge of
things that you could not have known through acquisition or study. This
gift can be used in conjunction with the gift of healing. When the Lord
shows you someone's need as a picture in your mind. You'll often hear,
“There is someone here who has a pain in their shoulder or has a limp, or
has headaches.” Sometimes a person may experience a pain, an ache, a cramp
- some physical sensation indicating the existence of another person's
physical ailment. Frequently you’ll hear someone say, “There’s someone here
who (fill in the blank)” that is the gift of the word of knowledge.
Distinguishing of spirits - (diakrisis pneuma) The ability to discern
between truth and error, flesh and Spirit, the demonic and the Spirit of
God - before the fruit is evident. This gift is a whisper of the Spirit
rather than a shout! An uneasy feeling, a question in your mind as to
whether a thing is true or a lie: from God, or our enemy, or our flesh
even! Sometimes it's a certainty that what was said was absolutely true or
false because the Holy Spirit has reminded us of what the Lord has said in
His word! Remember the “He Gets Us” campaign? NOPE - I immediately
understood in my spirit that this was another and thus false gospel. Like
Eddie said last Wednesday, “What is the source of your truth?”
The power gifts:
Faith - The gift of faith differs from the ‘measure of faith’ everyone receives at birth (Rom 12:3)- enough to believe and be saved. And the fulness of faith that is the natural fruit of the indwelling-ness of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believers (Gal 5:26). The gift of faith Is the unique supernatural ability to trust God against all circumstances as Peter did when he walked out of the boat onto the water. To have internal surety that something will come to pass
b) intercessory prayer - I’ve included this as a gift because I have been impressed to pray for a certain person! As we are sanctified (set apart and transformed into the image of Christ) we recall in Hebrews that He “ever lives to make intercession for us” so we are also called to be intercessors. I believe love empowers this and can be a facet of the gift of healing.
Healing - the supernatural ability to lay hands on the sick and see them healed. The power which at particular times the Apostles received from the Holy Spirit to cure diseases, a power which is not always resident in them. For Paul could not cure Timothy, nor remove his own thorn in the flesh, because it was given only on extraordinary occasions … Adam Clark. It can be by the agency of prayer (James 5:14) or even sage nutritional advice (1 Tim 5:23) or medicine (think doctors, nurses, etc). Healing of the heart from abuse, healing of the mind from trauma, healing of the conscience through repentance and the receiving of forgiveness. God, in the first century, accompanied the speaking forth of the gospel with signs and wonders - people were healed by a shadow, by handkerchiefs.
Effecting of miracles - Literally acts of power {dynameis}. This describes when the Holy Spirit chooses to override the laws of nature working in or through an available person. There are plenty of examples in the Old Testament (Elisha’s bones), and the book of Acts of miracles - the gift of faith is an essential component. It is the supernatural ability of God to work outside man’s natural laws.
b) exorcism - Jesus Himself ORDERED demons to vacate the people’s bodies during His ministry. His disciples continued to exorcize demons through the supernatural gift of miracles.
The verbal gifts:
Prophecy {differs from the office of Prophet} - the supernatural ability to speak God’s message spontaneously.
Tongues - the supernatural ability to speak, pray, and praise in a foreign language without learning it beforehand.
Interpretation of tongues - the supernatural ability to understand what is being said when you hear someone else speaking forth in tongues. *This is the only gift we are told to pray for. Without this gift, there is no place for tongues in the public assembly (more on that later!) There is a difference between translation and interpretation, (The difference between interpretation and translation is that interpretation deals with the real time spoken language, while translation focuses on written content.) There may be a difference in length between the tongue and the interpretation of the tongue, they aren’t required to match. You are to judge - do you bear witness in your spirit that what was spoken in tongues was correctly interpreted, and were you blessed by the utterance - did you ‘say amen’ indicating your agreement?
*Teaching {covered by Adrienne}
*Exhortation {covered by Adrienne}
The proper usage of tongues must have been a serious issue or Paul would not
have been required to write 2 whole chapters to straighten things out. Today
we see the same hyper-focus on a gift that he considered the very least
important for the common good, yet important for PERSONAL GROWTH.
Remember that the gift of tongues both requires and strengthens faith,
and is an affront to your intellect!
This may explain why some have difficulty receiving the gift - their
understanding gets in the way!
The gift of tongues is mentioned several times in the book of Acts as a
result of the “coming upon’ of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2 on the assembled
disciples, upon the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius Acts 10, on the
Ephesian believers In Acts 19)
So what exactly does the bible teach regarding tongues? What guidelines does
Paul lay-out for the proper usage of the gift that will result in 1/ the
common good, 2/ your personal edification, 3/ your prayer-devotional life,
4/ and the glorification of the Lord?
Tongues, as any gift, builds the faith of the church as a whole. The proper
operation of the gift of tongues and following interpretation will edify the
hearers. Gifts are not for just ourselves but for the common good and
edification of the church - the body of Christ! We are exhorted in
Scripture to edify one another in love. “Now there are varieties of gifts
but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same
Lord. There are varieties of effects, but have the same God, who works all
things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the
Spirit for the common good.”
Tongues assist in edifying the individual believer. In 1st Corinthians 14:4
Paul declares that speaking in tongues edifies the one who speaks. This
aspect of tongues is unique. It is the only gift of God that edifies you
personally and individually. All of the other gifts serve to edify the
church and build up the body, but this one gift was given to build you up,
to strengthen you. Speaking in tongues strengthens your walk, your
relationships, and gives you the power to commune with God on a deep
spiritual level. It’s so beneficial personally that he wishes ‘you all
spoke in tongues.’
Tongues assist your prayer life - (Chuck Smith) Paul says If I pray in a
tongue my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the
result then? I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the
understanding. I will sing with the Spirit, and I will sing also with the
understanding. Paul, by his own admission, prayed in tongues and even sang
in tongues. Paul says the gift of tongues is a good way to praise the Lord.
In Romans 8, the apostle tells us that the Spirit helps us pray when we
don't know what to pray for. In many cases I will pray in an unknown
tongue, allowing the Spirit to intercede for me, even as He makes
intercession for me through groanings too deep for words, so will He also
make intercession through the unknown tongues I speak. If the Spirit is
praying, we can have confidence that we are praying according to the will
of God. And what is the result of being aided by the Spirit in worship and
praise and in prayer? According to the will of God? It brings wonderful
rest. Speaking in tongues refreshes us and gives us rest - I can rest
knowing that I am adequately praising God, that He receives my worship and
understands it as the expression of the deepest core of my being, deeper
than my intellect, deeper than my consciousness. This phrase resonates with
me because I frequently cry when praying in tongues.
Tongues assist your devotional life - The gift of tongues finds its greatest
benefit in the personal devotions of the believer. One of our inadequacies
is expressing the full measure of love, appreciation, and thankfulness to
God for all He has done. Words are inadequate, intellect is inadequate -
they can't express the depth of feeling we have for our Lord.
‘Tongues’ was a popular gift and the Corinthian church and many people liked
to exercise it to excess! In several ways, Paul restricted the public
(rather than private) use of tongues in church services. First, he
restricted it to services in which an interpreter was present. And he
restricted the number of times (or persons) an utterance in tongues may be
given during a particular service. The manifestation of God’s
supernaturality through the gifts He gives us to employ ARE for His glory!
If we, as the Corinthians, all jabbered in tongues, all at the same time,
that would appear insane to unbelievers! The utterance in tongues, followed
by interpretation, does edify the church. But prophecy edifies, exhorts,
and consoles the believer AND astounds the unbeliever as God discloses the
secrets of his heart! One is good, but the other is better! The Holy Spirit
will never interrupt himself, so He won’t have us all speak at once. And
like the Spirit we have individual sovereignty - we can control what we say
and when we say it!
So what can we apply to our personal walks with the Lord from this lengthy
and dry-ish teaching? The answer is sandwiched between chapter 12 and
chapter 14 of 1st Corinthians - it’s the love chapter. Love (God’s
unconquerable benevolence) must be the foundation and motivation for the
deployment of the gifts during the church service. Faith is the engine -
but love is the fuel! The fruit of the Spirit is the platform upon which
the gifts deploy! I encourage you to lean-in to the Lord's heart and be
prepared to move in His gifts as an act of love toward Him and love toward
His children - your brothers and sisters. Do we not wish, as is stated in
Ephesians 4, that we would all attain to the same maturity, that we would
all attain to the stature of Christ? Then we must be equipped and ready for
the Lord to use us! This I believe is why Jesus said it would be better if
He left the earth, and then sent his Holy Spirit to live inside of us.