Holy Spirit: The Gifts of the Spirit

Hey, good morning, church. It's good to be with you. I spent a little extra time in the sun yesterday, and my head's a little toasted, but it's great to be with you. If we haven't met, my name's Josh, and I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're here.

God's up to some amazing things here, and it's awesome that we get to be a part of them. Happy Independence Day weekend. Yesterday marked the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country, and we get to call it home.

I think it's good and it's right to pause and be grateful for the sacrifice and the resources and even the lives that have been given to make and preserve what we get to have in our lives. The country is a gift. The freedoms and opportunities we enjoy have allowed the Gospel to be proclaimed and churches to be planted and missionaries to be sent in the name of Jesus to be carried around the world in worship ways that have far less resistance and far more resources than most of the rest of the world. And I'm so grateful for that. At the same time, these blessings can easily become stumbling blocks for us, too.

If we're not paying attention. Comfort can dull our hunger for God. Wealth can blind us. Jesus himself said, it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Independence can actually make us forget our dependence on God.

So today, we give thanks for this nation, but we place our hope in God alone. And we ask him to use everything we have been given to build up believers, love our neighbors, proclaim the gospel, and do everything that we can to make heaven more crowded. Amen. Amen. Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, you are sovereign over every nation, every political leader, every power, every authority in the world. The Bible makes that so clear. And we pray that your spirit and your people and your ways would infiltrate every place in our government where laws are made, where power is exercised, where justice is administered. Got to pray for all your people, this nation, that we would, as Jesus called us to, that we would become unified with such love under the name of Jesus, that our nation would pay attention, that they would notice that we are so different from this fractured, divisive norm around us. Father, we thank you for the countless men and women who fought, gave, died, who fight now, who give now, who are risking their lives now for the liberties and freedoms that we enjoy.

God, we confess at times we have been blinded by our comfort and wealth, please wake us from our sleep, strengthen our faith and help us to walk in complete dependence on you. God, we pray your kingdom come and your will be done here in this nation, in our city, in our neighborhoods, in our homes, in our workplaces, in schools, in our hearts. Your kingdom come, your will be done, just as it is in heaven. It's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Well, it's no exaggeration to say that the message today, if we understand and actually apply it to our lives, has the capacity to absolutely rip the ceiling off of what God is doing in and through your life and in and through the life of this church for his kingdom. Today we're talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now, some people get super excited about this topic. Others want to run out the back door because they're uncomfortable. Christians have disagreed about this topic for centuries, and at times it's even divided churches and denominations.

Now, when it comes to spiritual gifts, Christians generally, this is an oversimplification for time, but generally fall into two camps. Cessationists believe that at least some of the miraculous gifts were limited to the early church, that they have ceased now. Continuationists believe that all the gifts remain available as the Holy Spirit continues to choose to give them. There's plenty of nuance in both camps. We reject the unhealthy extremes on both ends, quite frankly.

At Whitewater, we believe the gifts continue, but we also believe Scripture is complete, sufficient and fully authoritative. Anything truly from the Holy Spirit will never contradict Scripture. For us, this isn't an issue of salvation or fellowship. We can completely disagree on this issue and so still worship together and still serve side by side together for the name of Jesus. The more important question for us is not which gifts continue, it's why the Spirit gives them in the first place and how they should be used.

The main passages in the Bible on this topic are in 1st Corinthians 12 through 14, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. You can go read them yourself. There's lots there. But before we dig into a little bit of those, keep two things in mind. First, none of these passages.

There are no passages in Scripture, in fact, that were set out to be the guidebook and final word on all spiritual gifts. Nor are any of the lists in the Bible intended to be complete lists that nothing outside of these listed here could be gifts of the Spirit. Paul never says. And now for the master's class on spiritual gifts. You are complete.

You know everything you need to know. Second, each of these passages is written into a very specific church in a very specific place, in a very specific time. So context matters. Paul opens First Corinthians 12 with these words. Now, about the gifts of the spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.

See, the church at Corinth is a very young church. They're full of spiritual activity. We read, and it seems that the practice of spiritual gifts, like speaking in tongues, prophecy, miracles, healing, they happen regularly in Corinth. But the church also seems to be full of immaturity. They've become divided about the gifts.

In fact, they're competitive and proud about them. They're wearing them as a badge of honor. Especially the more impressive looking gifts like speaking in tongues. Paul spends a lot of time talking about that gift. Now, much.

Most of them have come from a pagan background. They have worshiped idols which actually represent real demonic, evil powers. And so they have a lot of experience with supernatural power. But it's been evil, supernatural power. And at the beginning, this is the very first filter that Paul gives for them to help make a distinction between the evil powers and the true spiritual powers from God.

It's a very simple measure. If it proclaims Christ Jesus as Lord and lifts him up, it is from the Holy Spirit. And if it does not, if it does not make much of Jesus, it is not from the Holy Spirit. That's the simplest filter that we can use at the lowest level for the gifts of the Spirit. Then let's look back at that first that we just read.

He says now about the gifts of the spirit. Brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. Interestingly, the modern translations, all of them translate this verse and add the word gifts. That's not actually in the original language. It actually literally says now about spiritual.

The word is pneumaticos. It just means spiritual stuff, spiritual things. And then he goes on to make it very clear he's actually not just talking about one thing, gifts, he's talking about at least three things. Let's read verse four. Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit.

And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities or work, but it is the same God who empowers them all. In everyone, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Now, in the pagan world, the belief is that there are many gods and each one of those gods can provide power for a particular thing. A God for this, a God for that.

What Paul is saying is it is the opposite of that. There are many gifts and many works and many services, but there is one God, one source. There is the Lord himself, who gives these through his Spirit. Paul says that to every believer is given what he calls the manifestation of the Spirit. And that word manifestation just means the visible expression, the outward working of the Holy Spirit.

It's actually not you, it's him. These gifts, service work. They're not like Christmas gifts that we unwrap and then we own them and then we can use them however we please. And they're not like comic book character superpowers. Like we get a cape and a mask and from now on you will call me Healing man.

Like, this is not how this works. They're not our identity. They're not even about us at all. And they have one clear purpose. Verse 7.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit. Let's read this together for the common good. Later, in chapter 14, Paul puts it this way. So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

Ephesians 4:12 about the gifts. They are here to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up. Please describe that to us, Paul. Great. I'm glad you asked.

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, why do we have access to the special manifestation of the Spirit in our lives? One reason to mutually and powerfully build up the body of Christ, the church, until we have all become the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. That's why they exist. Paul then addresses their competitive attitude when it comes to some of these gifts. Some who were empowered by the Spirit to do more exciting things, more impressive things, more important seeming work.

Acts of service were propping themselves up. They were the cool kids, they were the varsity Christians. And others felt small. They felt like their gifts, their service, their work was less significant. And in order to get them to see the problem with this thinking, Paul pulls out this huge analogy.

He uses it a lot and I want to use it today. It's so powerful. In this context, it's the body. First Corinthians, chapter 12. Starting in verse 12.

Just as a body, though one has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit, so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, and we were all given the one spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part, but of many. Now, if the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts but one body.

Let's skip ahead to verse 25, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have an equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now, you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. Then let's jump ahead to verse 29.

And he asks these rhetorical questions. He says, are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? And of course, the answer is no. No.

And then comes a pivotal verse. This is a pivotal verse that we most often skip right over. We don't connect it to chapter 12 or 13, but it clearly links chapter 12 to chapter 13. He says, but earnestly, desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way. Ooh.

Even higher gifts. Cool. We're all ears, Paul. What's a more excellent way? What is it?

Tell us, what are the greater gifts? Well, we flip the page to chapter 13, and we see that the answer is not what we would expect. Love. First Corinthians 13:1. If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers and understanding all, understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but I have not love, I'm nothing. If I give away all I have and I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Paul goes on to describe what love is that is patient and kind and not rude, keeps no record of wrongs, and so on. And because we have heard this chapter Almost exclusively read inside the context of a wedding ceremony. We think that's what he's talking about.

That's not why he wrote this. He wrote this to a church that was using spiritual gifts without spiritual maturity. He wrote this to a church that had power but no humility. Gifts but no love. Activity, but not unity.

He says, I don't care how gifted you are. I don't care what nice gifts you have from the Holy Spirit. I don't care how impressive your ministry looks. If it is not practiced in love, it is empty.

Holy Spirit empowerment is never meant to make you the center. It's to operate in love toward others. Back when we did our Fruit of the Spirit series and we talked about love, we used this definition from Dallas Willard. I think it's so good. He says, love is to will the good of another.

And the greatest good for every person on the planet is not that they would be impressed by my gift or that they would even receive a really cool word of prophecy from me or a temporary physical healing or a really good wisdom. It is that they would become more and more like Jesus and experience his love through me, so that they would be drawn to love others like he loves them, so that they would be more drawn to Jesus and get to experience his love too. And on and on and on. Love is the more excellent way because love takes whatever the Spirit has given me and aims it away from me toward others, not for my glory, but for the glory of Jesus and the building up of his church. Spiritual gifts aren't about you.

Spiritual gifts aren't about you. Spiritual gifts aren't about you. They're all about Him. They aren't about figuring out what cool tricks from God you got. They're not about pigeonholing you into that one expression in the body of believers.

They're not to give you the excuse to go, oh, well, that's not my gift. Sorry, that's not my gift. The Bible clearly says that every person who has received salvation in the indwelling of the Spirit has received some expression of spiritual empowerment. And not just received, but receives whenever the body is in need. The Spirit of provides a gift, a service or a work.

It all comes from the Spirit. It all exists for the same purpose, to build up the body of Christ. And it all must be practiced with the attitude of love for others. Now that's why they exist. Now let's look at what they are.

I'm going to fly through these really fast. If you count up all of the gifts listed in scripture, it's 20 or 21, depending on how you. How you count them. We're gonna fly through them really fast. So if you need to sit on one for a little bit more time, go on YouTube, pause it, and you can get all these definitions.

You won't have time to take notes. All right, first, prophecy. Speaking. A timely word that strengthens, encourages, warns, instructs, or comforts people in alignment with scripture. Now, let me give you a really bad example of how Heidi and I got to experience this pretty early on in ministry.

It was our first ministry. The. The pastor's wife came to us and this is. I'm not making this up, okay? She says, hey, I have the spiritual gift of.

It's. I always forget the word. It's like. It's like fortune telling. I said prophecy.

And she goes, yeah, yeah, that's it. God told me that you're supposed to be missionaries to Africa.

There are easier ways to get rid of us. Like, here's the thing. If that word was truly from God, don't you think that the same spirit that's in you might mention it to us at some point? We've never received any confirmation that God has called us to be missionaries to Africa.

But then there are some better ways that this can be done. On the other hand, many occasions I have experienced where God has encouraged me to go speak to someone or someone to come speak to me with rich humility. And it sounds something like, hey, I just cannot shake that. The Spirit keeps telling me to come and tell you this thing, and maybe it will mean something to you. Maybe it will be meaningful.

Maybe you just write it down and pray about it. I don't know. I just cannot shake this. And I want to lay this down in front of you and say, maybe God has something to say to you, but I want you to pray about it. I mean, I've felt convicted to come up to someone that I hardly knew and say, God sees you and watched the waterworks just flow and I don't even know why.

Or something like last week, like we talked about, hey, don't pause the story too soon. I just. Man, I just feel like God wants you to know that these are words of truth that are all aligned with scripture, shared in love and humility for the glory of God in the building up of his church. They do not sound like, everyone get in line and wait for a word from Josh. And we've all seen this manipulated in some way.

I'm sure it's icky. Don't do it. That's in the Bible, I think.

Next Teaching, Teaching. Explaining God's Word clearly so people can understand it and live it out. Simple. Next encouragement or exhortation. Coming alongside others with truth that comforts, challenges, or strengthens them.

Next Evangelism. The special ability to clearly share the good news of Jesus so others can believe and follow Him. Next word of wisdom Knowing the wise thing to say or do in a specific situation. Now, sometimes this can be miraculous. Miraculous word of wisdom.

You can't explain where it came from. Sometimes it's simply from experience that you've had that God reminds you of in a moment to apply to a situation. Next Word of knowledge. Understanding or recognizing something important that helps reveal God's truth in a specific situation. Almost always this is a thing that you know and you don't know why you know it, but you know it.

A great example of this is Jesus when he meets the woman at the well and he knows all about her past. He didn't spend any time with her, and he says, I know where you've been. It changes her life. Another example might be that you see someone and the Holy Spirit just man, I don't know why you know, but you know that you know. You know this person is grieving.

You know they're in danger. You know they need encouragement. The Word just comes Next, a fan favorite Tongues speaking in an inspired language unknown to the person. Speaking for supernatural translation or for prayer and praising God. This is what happened on the day of Pentecost, when 120 people are speaking a language and proclaiming the gospel in a language that they've never studied and do not know.

But it's also speaking in a language unknown to the person for prayer and praising God. Now, I don't have near enough time to get into the depths of this, but two quick things to note. One, there is no other gift in Scripture that Paul puts more warning labels on than speaking in tongues in the context of the church. Specifically, lots of warning labels. Now, in 1 Corinthians 14, he says, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, but in the church, I'd rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than 10,000 words in a tongue.

He goes on to say that he discourages it in the gathered church, especially because I'm not making this up, because people from the outside might come in and hear this and think we're nuts. That's what he says.

The only time that he says it's profitable in the church, in this gathering, is when it's Accomplished or accompanied with the next gift, which is the interpretation of tongues. Explaining the meaning of a tongue so others can understand and be built up. They have the gift to explain it to others, but also to the one who's speaking the word. Paul says all of these warnings because God is a God not of disorder, but of peace. So we choose as a church to discourage the use of these gifts in this large Sunday gathering for the very reasons that Paul shares here.

And while I have never personally received the gift of tongues in any form or the translation of tongues, I know that many in this room right now have shared with me that they have been given this gift. Again, this is the gift that Paul gives us the most warning labels on. So if you have it, that's wonderful. Just know it's a sharp sword. Be careful with it and use it with carefulness and humility.

Next. Service and ministry. Seeing practical needs and joyfully meeting them. That doesn't sound very spiritual, does it? Next.

Helps supporting others by doing whatever is needed so the work of ministry can flourish. Next. Giving joyfully and generously. Sharing resources to meet needs and advance God's worth work. Now don't miss this.

The gift of giving is not about how much money or how many resources you either have or give away. That's not the gift of giving. Being rich and giving money away is not the spiritual gift of giving. It is the spirit given ability to give with unusual generosity, freedom and joy from whatever God has placed in your care. Now, I believe this is a gift that has gone completely underutilized in the church.

It's been lumped into big giving campaigns. If you have the gift of giving, you should write big checks. And I want to change that. So if you know that God has given you this gift, I want to invite you to help us imagine what it could look like to have a ministry team of people who have the spiritual gift of giving. I'm not even sure what that means.

I don't know that there's a church that has sorted through this. But I want to invite you to help us sort through what this could look like. A volunteer team of people who have the spiritual gift of giving. And so if you have that gift, would you send an email to this email? Giftofgivingwhitewatercrossing.org giftofgivingwhitewaterCrossing.org, it's an invitation to a conversation about what this might look like in our church.

To start the conversation, we gotta keep moving. Mercy, caring for hurting people with compassion and kindness. Next. Leadership Guiding and organizing people towards God's purposes. Next, administration, organizing plans and resources so ministry is effective and orderly.

Next, pastoring or shepherding, caring for, guiding and protecting people and helping them grow closer to Jesus. Next, apostleship being sent to help start, strengthen or expand the work of the Gospel in new places. Next, faith trusting God with supernatural confidence for a specific challenge and need or step of obedience. This is beyond the common gift of grace. That is the faith that we are able to have in Jesus to come to faith.

This is above and beyond that a supernatural faith. And finally, healings being no, I've got two more healings being used by God to bring healing to a person's body, mind, heart or life. Now, the Bible literally says gift of healings. It's plural. I have a great friend who is an incredible counselor and I believe that he has the spirit empowered gift of healing.

I do not believe the Bible teaches that someone with gifts of healings can heal anyone they choose, whenever they choose. Healing remains an act of God. It belongs to the Holy Spirit and He dispenses it according to his will. It's not a power controlled by the person through whom he works. Paul himself was used many times to heal.

He even raised someone from the dead. But later he left a guy named Trophimus sick in Miletus. He gives Timothy practical instruction and advice for a frequent illness that he has. He's not granted healing in his own self for what he describes multiple times as the thorn in his flesh. The gifts of healings belong to the Holy Spirit.

He gives them and distributes them as he wills, when he wills, through Whom he wills for the glory of Jesus and the good of the body. Next, miracles being used by God to demonstrate his power in ways that go beyond human ability and finally, discernment of spirits, recognizing whether something is from the Holy Spirit, from people, or from an evil spirit. Now, these are the 20 or so gifts listed in scripture. It's not an exhausted list, but it gives you an idea of the types of things that the power or the Holy Spirit empowers the body of Christ for good works of service, to build up, encourage and form his church more and more into the likeness of of Jesus. Now, studying these gifts is great.

Having definitions for these gifts is great. But without practicing these gifts, we only have maybe half the equation. And this is where the body imagery that Paul uses earlier really becomes convicting really fast. Statistics would say that in an average church, 80% of the work being done in the church is done by 20% of the people. Who are here now.

I don't know if that's accurate for us, but let's just kind of hold that in our minds and use that as a starting point. Picture that for a second. And let me ask this. If 80% of your physical body was not functional, how detrimental would that be to your body?

You wouldn't say, it's not that bad. It's pretty good. You'd be in the ICU right now. I want to say this carefully because there are incredible things happening around us here at Whitewater. People are coming to faith.

The gospel is being proclaimed. We are expanding local and global impact. God has been so kind to us. So many people have stepped into this baptistry, have given their lives to Jesus. What if this is not as good as it gets?

What if actually what we're experiencing right now is only a small fraction of what God intends? What if it's a small fraction of what he has made available already to this church? What if there's 80% more capacity in this room listening online in our body to serve, to encourage, to teach, to give, to lead, to show mercy, to speak wisdom, to pray for healing, for the Holy Spirit, to manifest himself through his people, for the common good. Church. Don't miss this.

The body of Christ was never meant to be a few gifted people doing ministry while everyone else watches. You were never meant to just sit in a seat and be a consumer of religious goods and services. If you are in Christ, you are part of his body. And to each one, that's you. Paul says, the manifestation of the Spirit is.

Is given for the common good. And so the question isn't, am I needed? Yes, you are needed. The question isn't, has the Spirit gifted you? Yes, he has.

The question is, will we each offer what he has given us for the building up of this body? That's the question. Because somewhere in this church that someone needs what the Spirit has empowered in you to give. Someone needs your encouragement, your mercy, your wisdom, your service, your leadership, your faith. Someone needs you to step off the bench and get in the game, to stop cheering on.

I love the gifts. Yeah, Jesus. And doing nothing. I'm not speaking this in shame. I'm speaking this because there is an abundant life in front of you that if you would step into it, you could see amazing things happen for the Kingdom.

We could see amazing things happen for the Kingdom. Our neighborhood, our city, our community.

Come on, Church. The invitation is here. Now. I can hear the voice in your head. It's telling you that you're not ready it's telling you, oh, gosh, they might ask me to do something that I don't feel like I can do.

Might ask you to do something that you're scared to do. The other side of this, this is not in my notes, but I'm telling you, the spirit's telling me this right now. You're not too dirty to give it. He does the cleaning. Let him do his work.

You go do your work. Enough.

About 18 years ago, I was between jobs and I didn't have a job for. Ended up three months. And after a few days, Heidi said, she's an educator, my wife. And she said, you know what you should do? You should be a sub.

And I said, you know what you should do is never mention that again. Cause that's a terrible idea. I was not made for that. But I listened to her encouragement, and I became a sub. And one morning I got the call, and the voice on the phone was desperate.

She needed a position filled, and she could not find anyone to do it. And she was apologetic, and she said, I know, I know. I just. I can't find anybody else to do this. Would you be willing to take on a really hard job?

And I was like, no, I didn't say that. She said, I need someone to be a substitute teacher in our special needs preschool class. And I was like, that sounds like nothing I want to do.

But the Holy Spirit just nudged me to go.

So I laid down my pride and I went. And I walked in scared to death. And I walked out wishing I could take them all home.

And God has called me to plenty of other things. But we get this idea that the Spirit gifting is so that we can feel so powerful that we don't need his help to go do stuff. What? No. In fact, when we see him work, the best is when we step into a position where we are desperate for him to do the work.

This is what he's calling. This is what he's calling for us to do. The gifts of the Spirit are not about limiting you to the things you're comfortable with. The whole point is that whatever the body of Christ needs in any moment to thrive and to be built up in Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit is poured out to provide it. If you will, say yes.

So today, the invitation is very simple. If you know, you know that, you know the area that he's calling you into to pour out his empowerment into this body, or if you have no idea what it is and you're scared to death, but you want to talk to somebody about it. We're going to put a QR code on the screen and all it does is sign you up for our volunteer orientation. It's not a commitment to serve. It's a commitment to start a conversation about what it might look like for your spirit empowered gifts to be shared in this body.

I cannot encourage you enough. If you've not done this yet, do this now. If you're not tech savvy, if you want to go talk to a person about it, go out to the information desk. They can help you get signed up as well.

But imagine, Imagine if we're running at 20% right now. Imagine what the Holy Spirit could do in this body, in this city, in your home, in this community.

To take us from functionally in the ICU to thriving for the kingdom. 50%. 70%. 80%. What if this is just the beginning?

The beauty of what's going on here is just the beginning. The Spirit has not empowered you so that a few people can carry the weight while the rest of us watch. He's empowered the whole body on purpose, with a purpose.

So let's offer him all of us. For the good of this body, for the building up of the church, for the glory of Christ. And even if you think your part in the body is the tiny little pinky toe, just stub that dang thing on a bed one time and you'll know how important it is.

This is the call. Come on, Church. He's in you. He's in you. He has empowered you for works of service, gifts all for his glory.