Gifts Of The Holy Spirit - Part 1

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 16th 2022  by Colin D via zoom. For the audio & video please click here.  To listen to the worship please click here.

GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - An introduction

 

Have you met a person without hands? We had a neighbour without hands. How does he drink his coffee? With his feet. Thank God our bodies are well.

When we think of the church- the church is like our human body

Rom12:4-6

You and I are different parts of the body with different functions. When we come together, we come together as the body of Christ.

Now when we come together it can be that you have a role to play and do not play it. Then it is like that man without hands

My role is to help you see that you have a role and that is it important and that you play it well.

What is this role? These are called Spiritual Gifts.

We may have heard about this. This morning is teaching to understand what God’s word has to say about this. It would be a tragedy if we have members of the body not doing what they are supposed to do.

We love to watch a gymnast – but that gymnast can do all those beautiful moves because his full body is in sync and every limb in his body is doing its part.

I attended a John Wimber seminar 35 years ago when in college. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and became aware of the gifts.

And in the days that followed, we used to seek God in our house groups. And we practised the gifts and sought God for the gifts.

God told me that I had the gift of preaching, teaching, leading. And the leader confirmed it. And in the years on we have seen that it has come to pass. The same thing can happen to you.

 

WHAT IS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GIFTS? What does the Bible say?

1. Do not be ignorant – I Cor 12:1

2. Do not neglect your gift….1 Tim4:14 –

3. We are called to develop the gift and use it.

How did timothy get this gift – through a prophetic message when the Elders laid hands on him.

There is an impartation.

4. Eagerly desire the greater gifts 1Cor 12:31 –

Do we desire the greater gifts? That is something we must do.

1Cor. 14:1 – Follow the way of love --- especially the gift of prophecy. Wasn’t it wonderful to see the prophetic flow this morning?

So don’t be ignorant – study about the gifts. If you don’t have a gift, ask for someone to lay hands on you so that you may get the gifts.

 

II – CHARACTERISTICS

Diff gifts but the same spirit. 1Cor 12:4 –They are diverse. The analogy is the body is made up of diff parts.

These gifts are given by the Holy Spirit for the common good.

It is a gift you have to steward 1Cor 12:7. The gift is for someone else's good or benefit – that the church of Jesus would be blessed, and the kingdom will advance.

In Acts we see the word of God come and then the power of God accompanies it

The whole Trinity is involved in the gifts 1Cor 12:6 – Diff gifts, diff service, diff working but one God.

Gifts- HS

Service – Jesus

Working – God

 

The HS gives us these gifts 1 Cor 12:11. He gives it to us as he determines

 

III – WHAT ARE THE DIFF GIFTS

There are 3 main passages

1Cor 12:8-10 Wisdom, knowledge faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy…….

This section lists 9 gifts – these are gifts of revelation, vocal, power gifts.

1Cor 12:27 – 30 lists more gifts.

Eph. 4:11-13 – Christ gives these gifts APEST. V12 – to equip people to works of service so that the whole body will be built up

Rom 12:3-8

One body with many members. Many in Christ we form one body.

Acts 2:17 – I will pour out my Spirit

Prophecy, dreams, visions.

There are a whole variety of gifts that we can develop for the common good.

 

HOW DO THESE GIFTS WORK IN THE CHURCH?

We know the Holy Spirit gives the gifts.

We are one body 1Cor 12:12 –. The hand does not say I am great. It is great only when it is connected to the body. In a football team no matter how gifted a player he needs a team.

How did we become one body? 1Cor 12:13 –When we are baptized in the Spirit we become one body. At water baptized you are baptized by a person in the water. Here you are bap by the HS and immersed into the body of Christ.

You are the body of Christ 1 Cor 12: 27 - and each part does its part.

God has uniquely arranged us V18 – just as He wanted them to be. Your role is unique. You may think your role is small. It is unique and necessary. God has placed you there and you need to value it.

David says I would rather be a doorkeeper…

WE need one another 1 Cor 12:21 – The head cannot say to the eye I don’t need you. We need one another – you are important. Maybe you are the hands at WOG and you are not on the scene. WOG is losing out.

We are interconnected – You know that when you have a toothache you cannot think of anything else but that.

1Cor 12:24-25. If one part suffers all suffer. If one part is honoured all are honoured.

We are distinct individuals but interconnected. Are you interconnected with the body or are you living separated and isolated?

The Gyms are a great way to stay connected. There is a great diff bet a pile of bricks and bricks arranged and cemented together to form a wall. There is great strength in that.

This happens through the community where our lives are connected to one another. Together we are strong

WHERE ARE WE GOING WITH THIS?

FIND your gift- Ignorance is not bliss. Read through these lists and ask God. You can have more than one gift.

If you desire something, ask God. One way to find out your gift is by asking your leader what they have observed about you. Sometimes we think we have a gift, but we don’t. Ask people who know you and will be honest with you.

FAN into flame 2 Tim1:6 Paul is telling Timothy to fan into flame. Develop it. I have the gift of preaching and teaching. I read and study a lot about it. How can you take it to the next level?

FAITHFUL – when you know what your gift is you need to exercise it faithfully. We will have workshops and activation sessions. We will teach on it and prophecy.

FRUITFUL – As we fan it into flame, God will use us greatly to be a blessing to many others. WE want to see our Sunday meetings full of the gifts of the Spirit.

 

You are privileged to be a part of the body of Christ. ARE you hindering the body by not playing your part? It is your responsibility to play your part. AT WOG we want to see each one grow. But it is your desire.

 Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.