[Steve Myers] Spiritual gifts is the topic for Chapter 12. We had talked about the various themes of some of the chapters, Chapter 11 being traditions in the Church, Chapter 12 is spiritual gifts. And that's exactly how Paul starts out in addressing this issue that the Corinthians have. You've probably heard me say before that Corinth was probably the most gifted congregation of those that are mentioned in the New Testament. So no wonder Paul has to take some time to address the idea of spiritual gifts and what they are and what they're used for and what that topic is all about. And so if you take a look at 1 Corinthians 12:1.

1 Corinthians 12:1 he says, "Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I don't want you to be ignorant."

I don't want you to be ignorant. So you've got to understand this, in other words, Paul is saying. Interesting here, he doesn't even use the word gifts. If you have a Bible, that kind of notates that gifts may be italicized there. The implication is gifts because he's going to be more specific in a verse or two. But concerning the spiritual, concerning these things, concerning some translations say gifts of the Spirit, gifts of the Spirit or spiritual gifts, kind of begins us on an interesting journey to think of it in those terms. Gifts of the Spirit. Spiritual gifts. These things are accomplished by the power of God's Spirit. So when you begin to think about that, well, what can God's Spirit do through us and in us and for us? I mean, the list could go on and on.

But Paul is going to kind of highlight a number of different things here that certainly show that we are empowered by God's Spirit. That ultimately, well, a number of things it can comfort us, can encourage us. God's Spirit certainly does that. Christ talked about the helper coming, the Holy Spirit. That would be the comforter. Sometimes that word for the Holy Spirit, the comforter is also used. Yeah, God's Spirit certainly helps us and comforts us. We know that by God's Spirit, we can begin to understand things, that we can understand spiritual things. You think about how Christ referred to that. We just got done talking about the Passover and how Paul passed these things on to the Corinthian church. Certainly, Christ talked about that very fact, that the Spirit would bring all things to remembrance, that we can remember things, that it helps us and guides us in that way when we submit to it. So we can be taught in that sense. It will teach us all things. In that same section, I think it's in John chapter 14, where Christ talked about that very thing.

Now, we know when we submit to the Spirit and we allow God's Spirit to lead us, you know, what does that look like in our life? Well, we recognize the fact we have certain attributes that the fruit of the Spirit is going to become evident. And so God's Spirit certainly produces things in us such as love, joy, peace, long suffering, the fruit of God's Spirit, faithfulness and gentleness, and all those fantastic characteristics. Galatians 5 discusses those types of things. And in this regard, as we get into Chapter 12, we recognize the fact that God's Spirit is what empowers us to use the gifts that God gives. They come by the power of God's Spirit. And so we'll see that as we get into Chapter 12. And it's also interesting just to maybe take a little side note of this is an important aspect, that it's an important thing that we need to understand, that we need to know about, that we shouldn't be ignorant of.

And so we should be knowledgeable when it comes to this idea of gifts of the Spirit or spiritual gifts, because not only should we know about them, but Paul also tells us we need to utilize them. We need to use them. We need to use. We need to use them. In fact, there's a good example of this. If you hold your place here in 1 Corinthians 12, here we're already going to another section of Scripture. But let's do this because it came to mind. If you go over to 1 Timothy. And I believe it's in Chapter 3, is it? No, it's in Chapter 4. In chapter 4, here we have this interesting reference here as you look at verse 14. Here the Apostle Paul also writing here to the young minister Timothy.

1 Timothy 4:14 He says, "Do not neglect the gift that is in you."

Do not neglect the gift that is in you. And so here we see you can't overlook these. These are something that God has given to us that we need to use. What had Timothy been given? Well, we know he had the gift of God's Spirit. There may be other things as well that were given to him, given by prophesy and the laying out of hands of the eldership it mentions here. And so Timothy was certainly ordained to the ministry and was given gifts that he was expected to use. And so I think that ties in with what we're beginning to address here in Chapter 12. If you go back to 1 Corinthians 12, we are to use the gifts that God has given us. So as we begin to think about that, that stresses the importance of knowing about them, not being ignorant, as Paul says, and then recognizing spiritual gifts that we may have been given. Going back.

1 Corinthians 12:2-3 "You know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led." Okay, that's where they came from. Now, what should our perspective be? Well, now it changes everything. He says, "Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed. And no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit."

And so he offsets those who are a part of God's way versus those who are not. You really don't understand spiritual things except how? By the power of God's Spirit, except by the Holy Spirit. You really don't...I mean, he's not saying, well, you can't say the words. Well, anybody can say the words, Jesus is Lord. He's not just talking about that, just saying the words. He's saying no one can understand the fact that Jesus is Lord, that He is Master, that He is our spiritual high priest, except by the power of God's Spirit. And so he says that's where we begin. We begin. If you really understand and you're led by God's Holy Spirit, you obviously can't criticize Christ either. You can't call Him accursed because you're being led by the Spirit. And so that stresses the importance of the idea of spiritual gifts. And they're actually going to be discussed not only here in Chapter 12. The idea of these spiritual gifts go all the way through Chapter 13 and getting into Chapter 14. In fact, most of Chapter 14, I think almost all of it, almost all of Chapter 14 also is on this subject of spiritual gifts. Now, there's other things that we'll mention as kind of themes for those chapters, Chapters 13 and 14. But they're all connected to this idea of gifts that come by God's Spirit, gifts that are given to us.

All right, so let's think about that for a moment. What does that mean? What does it mean that we have spiritual gifts or spiritual gifts are given to us? How would you define that? What exactly is a spiritual gift? Okay, a couple of interesting definitions that are out there. If you were to look up, let's say, in the Anchor Bible Dictionary, it would label spiritual gifts as special gifts that God bestows on us. So they're God-given gifts. Also interesting to see why they're given. Not just that you have a gift or that you've been given something by God. but they're for the benefit of all. They're for the benefit of the Church. They're for the benefit of the Church. And so he brings that point out. If you notice verse 4.

1 Corinthians 12:4 He says, "There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit."

So no wonder we recognize them as spiritual gifts. They are, they're diversity. It doesn't just mean there's different gifts. Sometimes in English you might think that they're differences of gifts. That diversity word really carries the connotation of God has allotted these different things or he's endowed us with gifts, not just the fact there's different ones. He's going to get into the idea of these different gifts that he gives, but he gives them out. He allots them is the idea here. He allots gifts and yes, they're multiple kinds, but one Spirit, but one Spirit, the same Spirit. And so there are these special gifts that are given by God.

Now, it's interesting, here in 1 Corinthians 12, we have gifts is the word charisma. Charisma is the word there. Yeah, it looks like we have charisma. In English, we use a variation of this word. It doesn't carry that connotation, this idea of charisma is part of the identity of what a spiritual gift really is. We said a special gift. Is it a gift that we deserve? Is it a gift that we deserve? No, it's not. And if we see in that word for gift, we have charis. What word is that in the Greek? It's translated grace. Grace. And so there's a connection between the gifts and grace. Is grace something we deserve? Do we deserve God's favor? Do we deserve God's forgiveness? No, we don't. These are undeserved things that God gives. So you tie that into spiritual gifts, we recognize that God favors us and we receive these different aspects of gifts, not because we deserve it, not because we earned it, not because I'm such a wonderful person that God gave. No, these are unique gifts that God gives because of His grace, because of His mercy, because of His love He gives us these things. And so he's saying He's endowed us with these things. There are various kinds, but different is good. Different is good in this case. Diversity is good in this case. And they should be complementary within the Church.

If you look this up in Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, it says gifts are special gifts. Spiritual gifts are special gifts bestowed by God for the purpose of building up the Church. For the purpose of building up the Church. And we see that, if we continue to read here in verse 5.

1 corinthians 12:5 “There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. There are diversities of activities, but it's the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one.” Why? “For the profit of all,”

So that's why we see in our definition, there's special gifts that God gives for building up the Church. And so when we recognize that, we see how that works together.

1 Corinthians 12:5 He says, verse 5, "There's differences of ministries." Probably not the best translation here. The ministry's word is diakonia. Diakonia is the word there. Diakonia is the word which is really the word for serving. Sometimes it could be translated ministering, but it's literally serving. "There's differences in serving, but the same Lord. There's an allotment, an endowment, differences of the gifts that are given, but same Spirit that works in there."

And so he says there's differences of activities. Even some translations in that ministering word, the differences of ministries, some say administrations. I think the Old King James says there's differences in administrations. Yeah, a difference in the way that we serve. People serve in different functions. And there's different roles in whether they're apostles, or whether they're prophets, or whether they're teachers. All kinds of different ways, whether you be a deacon or an elder or a member or whatever it may be. Yes, there's different ways to serve. Literally, different servings. There's different servings, but, he says, the same Lord. Then he says diversities of activities in verse 6.

1 Corinthians 12:6 “Diversities of activities.”

Some translations say operations. It doesn't mean like you're a physician or a doctor having an operation in that regard. This idea of operations, literally the word there is the same word that we get our English word energy from. Energy. So different energies, different workings, different ways that we serve. But he says, "It's the same God who works all in all." The same God that works all in all. So interesting that he uses that a similar word there when he talks about different works, different works and God's working and He is in all of these things.

So a couple of things that are important then. We recognize spiritual gifts are to benefit the entire Church, and that's an important thing. And so when we consider this idea of charisma, spiritual gifts, we could probably better define that whole idea of what Paul's really getting at here. If we wanted to kind of boil it down to a simple working definition, we could define a spiritual gift as God-given,but a God-given ability, or a God-given talent, or a God-given skill that should be used to serve others. So hopefully that puts a little bit of meat on the bones as we kind of get into some of the specifics here. A spiritual gift may be a God-given ability, skill, or talent that should be used to serve others. Should be used to serve others. And even if we step back for a minute, whoa, why call them spiritual gifts? Why are they called spiritual? Well, they're not physical. They're not physical gifts. They're not something you could touch or feel or handle or like a physical gift of, well, here's some money. Okay, I can hang on to that. It's not an object. It's nothing in that regard. So it's a spiritual thing.

And they're gifts. Well, what is a gift? Somebody gives you a gift. Is it something that you worked for? Something that you earned? No, it's something that you were given. And so this is something that we don't deserve. But it's something because God is kind, because God is loving, because God is merciful, and because He's good, He gives us these things. So we didn't do anything to deserve it, but God gives them because He is God and He is amazing. And so when you consider that, I think that begins to frame this whole concept of God-given spiritual gifts. And maybe as we think about that as well, Paul outlines it pretty specifically when he says in verse 7.

1 Corinthians 12:7 "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all."

Sounds very religious there, doesn't it? Manifestation of the Spirit. What does that mean? Well, the Spirit manifests itself. It means just showing. The Spirit shows itself. How do you show that you have God's Spirit? How do you manifest that? Well, it shows because you're using this gift to help others, to profit all. To profit all.

So we can begin to see why God gives spiritual gifts, right? Why does God give spiritual gifts? Well, we see here, for the profit of all. We can also tie this in to the letter that Paul wrote to Ephesus, to those Ephesians there. If we go over to Ephesians 4, so hold your place here in 1 Corinthians 12 and head over to Ephesians for just a moment. And we can tie in a couple of concepts here in Ephesians that Paul wrote to show why God gives spiritual gifts. Because I think it's an important aspect that we should be aware of. He says, "I don't want you to be ignorant," so let's not be ignorant. Let's be knowledgeable. Put some of these pieces together to see why God gives spiritual gifts. If we look at Ephesians 4, notice verse 7. Notice verse 7.

Ephesians 4:7 He says, "To each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift."

Okay, so we're talking about things that we don't deserve. Grace, remember, charis is that grace. We're given gifts, charisma, spiritual gifts. And he says it was the measure of Christ's gift, that gift that He gave. And it's interesting that as he talks about these things, why? Why gifts? Well, some of those gifts that

Ephesians 4:11 He gave, verse 11, “He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.” Why? “For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry.”

Oh, that sounds like what we read back there in 1 Corinthians 12, doesn't it? The diakonia, the diakonia, there are differences in servings, in ministering in service. And so we see we are being equipped for the work of serving. The work of serving, the work of ministering. Why? Verse 12 at the end says, this is back in Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4:12 "For the edifying of the body of Christ."

So we can say God prepares us as His people for works of service. In fact, if you read Ephesians 4:12 in the New International Version, it says that very thing. God gives spiritual gifts to prepare His people for works of service. So it's not about authority, it's not about positions, it's about service. It's about service. And in fact, we see another aspect of this very thing when we recognize that it should lead us in ways in that service. If we skip down to verse 15.

Ephesians 4:15-16 he says, "Speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body knit and joined together by what ever joint supplies. According to the effective working by which every every part does its share causes growth of the body for edifying itself in love."

So we see God gives spiritual gifts to build the body, to strengthen the Church, that God's given us these various gifts as a responsibility to prepare and equip ourselves, to help the Church, to edify, literally to build up the Church, because He loves us and He wants the best for us.

And so this whole idea is also reflected in the vision statement for the United Church of God. You probably noticed it in the conference room just next door here, that this vision statement contains these words that are found here in Ephesians 4, that every part does its share. Every part does its share, and the result is then the body is built up. The body is built up. And so that becomes critical. So God gives these spiritual gifts to benefit the Church, not for our benefit individually, but collectively as His body. And so as a result of the spiritual gifts that we've been given, should the Church grow? Yeah, absolutely. There should be spiritual growth in these things as well. And so important reasons why.

Now, if you head back to 1 Corinthians 12 and we consider this concept of spiritual gifts, it's also important to recognize what spiritual gifts are not. He's going to get into specific gifts that are given, but I think it's also important to recognize gifts are not certain things as well. Yes, people can be talented in certain areas, right? No doubt. Does that mean automatically they have a spiritual gift in that regard? No, not necessarily, because there's differences between, let's say, a natural talent that you may have. Where does that come from? Your parents. Normally, it's going to be some type of genetic kind of thing that you have. If your parents are tremendous athletes, likely you'll be a pretty good athlete yourself, right? Yeah, I guess you could say God gave them through your parents. You might be able to say that. But it's definitely a different thing to say this is a natural talent versus something that is a spiritual gift that is given by God's Spirit, through God's Spirit. That's a little different thing.

Same thing with a skill. Well, what is a skill? Something I learned, something that I learned. I might have a proclivity to something, but if I become a great musician, it's something that I've learned, and I've practiced, and I've put to use, and I've learned it through my life. And so it's something that you can kind of enhance and develop individually. And that's something else that's different than a spiritual gift. So when we begin to think about those differences, it also then is separated by who's benefited by these things. Yeah, I suppose natural talents could benefit people, I suppose, in general. A skill that you would learn could benefit you or maybe others as well. But a spiritual gift is for the benefit of the Church. And so even the benefits themselves are different between learned skills and natural abilities and spiritual gifts.

Now, it's also interesting to consider the fact that by the power of God's Spirit, our natural abilities and talents can certainly be enhanced. No doubt about that. But we certainly want to focus in on the fact that the gifts that God gives are given by the power of His Spirit, but that's independent of my developed skills or the things that I received because of my genetics. It's something that's totally different. And so I think that's kind of an important thing to recognize that there is a difference between talents and skills and spiritual gifts. And as we recognize what Paul writes here, certainly the spiritual gifts and, well, even fruit of the Spirit for that matter, those things are necessary for us to be effective members of the body of Christ. And it's also interesting that we're expected to use these gifts. We're expected to, you know, illustrate the fruit of the Spirit as well.

And so it's interesting that everyone is given a gift, but not every Christian is given every gift. Every gift. So that's important to recognize as well, that we see in verse 7, if you go back.

1 Corinthians 12:7 "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all."

So do you have a spiritual gift? Yeah. Yes, absolutely. It says, yes, it's given to each one. So God gives each one. And so that's an important thing to recognize as well. It doesn't mean I have them all. Maybe God has given individual multiple gifts. Maybe I have more than one spiritual gift. But we at least have one. We've been given something. We have been given something. It's been given to each one. And that purpose then here is certainly shown, yes, to use it to profit all, to profit the Church. Yeah, it's interesting if we maybe just turn the page, take a sneak peek ahead for just a moment. If you look to Chapter 14, remember we said he's going to talk about these spiritual gifts for a couple of chapters here. When we see what it says here in verse 12.

Chapter 14:12 He says, "Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel."

Why should I put spiritual gifts that God's given me to use? To help the Church. That's what it comes down to, for the edification, the building up of the Church. That's why it's given. And yes, we can be eager to have them. And so important in that regard. And so when we recognize that, okay, we need to utilize the gift that God's given here. So Paul's really encouraging those in Corinth even to desire spiritual gifts, to want them. He wants spiritual gifts to be imparted. He even says something like that in the book of Romans. I think it's right at the very beginning of Romans where he says that. Yeah, this is in Romans 1 and we see it in verse 11 when he tells the Romans.

Romans 1:11 "I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established."

So Paul was certainly one to encourage people the desire to have a spiritual gift and then to put that spiritual gift to use. And so we recognize that fact. In fact, I think it's at the end of the letter, he says something kind of similar. Let me see if I can pick it out. I don't see it right off the top of my head here, but I know it's right here. Oh, there it is. Okay.

Romans 12:6 It says, "Having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us..."

Tight? God gives these gifts because He's God, because He loves us. He cares for us. He gives them not because we deserve it. So according to the grace that's given to us, let's use them. Let's use them. And He actually goes through a couple of those spiritual gifts that are here. So that's an important aspect as well, that we use these gifts. So if you head back to Chapter 12, once again in 1 Corinthians, he certainly reminds us of that fact at the end of the chapter. At the end of the chapter, he says in verse 31.

1 Corinthians 12:31 "Earnestly desire the best gifts."

The best gifts. So, is it wrong to want a spiritual gift? No. He says, this is a good thing. You should desire it. Well, why would that be? Not for my own, you know, ego. For the desire to build up the Church, to help the Church, to serve the Church. And so you put all these various passages together, it's kind of interesting to see this, that both what we read in Peter and what Paul has written that spiritual gifts are widely distributed, that the membership of the Church have been given spiritual...This isn't something that only ministers have. You ever thought that? No, that's not what Scripture says. This is not just given to ordained individuals. No, spiritual gifts are not just given to men. No, not the case at all. What we find when we put all these passages together, spiritual gifts are given to all, given to all the membership of the Church as God sees fit. And it's all to benefit the congregations. And so that's the important thing here when we recognize that. We can take that to heart when we see what he says in verse 11.

1 Corinthians 12:11 He says, "The one and same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills."

So this is by God's intention. They're by God's intention. And so it's totally under the direction of God the Father through Jesus Christ and by the power of God's Spirit. And so think about the way these gifts are distributed, that it can include all. It can include all. And it's by the will of God, right? They're limited by how God wills, what His intent is. And in that sense, we recognize that, yes, every member of the body has at least one spiritual gift. We read that here. We read it back in 1 Peter as well. 1 Peter describes that same thing. But it's also interesting that it seems that, well, not every gift is always present in the Church, you know, that God certainly limits spiritual gifts by His will. So I may have one gift, but I might not have another. And so the extent of those gifts certainly would be limited, you might say. But it's also interesting, limited to time as well.

If I go back to 1 Peter, if you want to follow me there, head back to 1 Peter for just a moment. And maybe we can note something interesting here in 1 Peter 1. Not Chapter 1. Let's go to Chapter 4. Chapter 4, let's notice this as he says here in 4:10.

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."

So once again, do you have a gift? Peter says so. Paul said so, yes. As each one has received a gift. As each one. And so as we look at these various things.

1 Peter 4:11 he says, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability which God supplies. In all things that God may be glorified."

And so he mentions a couple of those gifts right here and the fact that everyone has one. But as we look through 1 Corinthians 12, we began to delve into a little bit in Romans as well, does every generation have every spiritual gift? I think the answer is no. No. If we go back to Chapter 12, there's an interesting reference to gifts of prophesy. Gifts of predicting the future. When we think of what is coming, gifts of prophesy, does it seem like we have any prophets today? Not very evident at the moment in that regard. And so some of the ways these things are manifested may not be at all times throughout the Church. God could certainly see fit to have prophets in the future or prophetesses. The New Testament had prophetesses at the beginning of the New Testament Church. Today, do we? No, it doesn't seem that way. It may become evident later. We'll have to wait and see. And sometimes there seems to be more prevalent gifts of one type than another. And as we go through these, we'll probably see that as well. And so I think what that speaks to is the fact that God knows. God knows what's best. It's what He wills. It's what each congregation needs and really what every generation may need as well. What's best for the Church?

And so when we recognize that, I think it speaks to an important point as well. Okay, I've been given a spiritual gift. We understand from what Paul's written here, that is certainly the case, what Peter wrote as well. It kind of begs the question, can I develop a spiritual gift or if I've been given a spiritual gift, can it grow? Can, you know, it be something that could even be better utilized? Okay, I see some of us are shaking our heads yes. I agree. Do we have any examples of that in Scripture? Yeah, I think there are. There's several. Probably the one that becomes most evident is the example that Christ used in a parable that He taught. In Matthew 25, He gave a parable, often known as the Parable of the talents. The Parable of the Talents. And it was about not abilities, talents, it was about money. It was about the talent as a coin. And He used that example to show that, all right, there are things that are given. Remember, He uses that man who traveled to a far country and that He called his servants and He gave them, He gave them talents, He gave them money. He gave one 5, He gave another 2, He gave another 1. And so Christ tells that story in Matthew 25. And it's interesting. You know, who's the man that travels to another country? Who's that symbolic of? Well, it's symbolic of Christ, that Christ gives gifts. Christ gives gifts. And what was the expectation? Well, in that parable, the expectation was they better use those gifts.

And so I think that example is what Paul's at least partially got in mind here in Chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians. Christ came back as that traveling man to talk to these individuals that He had given these various things to. And what did the guy with 5 do? You probably know the story. Did he expand it? He multiplied it, yeah, and suddenly he's got 10. He's got 10. What did the man who traveled to a far country tell him when he came back? "Well done, good and faithful servant." Yeah, that expectation was there. Same thing with the man who had received 2 talents. He doubled his money as well, you might say, and heard the same thing, "Well done, good and faithful servant." What about the one that didn't do anything with the gift that he was given? Well, he's criticized. He said he was an evil, unprofitable servant. And that symbolism of that man who represented Christ said, well, take what he had, give it to somebody else. Cast this man out. And so you have that representation that, all right, two of those servants in that parable took the spiritual gift that God had given them and multiplied it, kind of grew that gift, put it to good use, in other words. And so the other just buried it, didn't utilize that gift, didn't do anything with it.

So what's the expectation that is on us? God expect us to figure out what spiritual gift we've been given? I mean, if we don't know what we've been given, we need to figure it out. He says, I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to bury this gift that you've been given. Each one has been given a gift. You better use that spiritual gift and develop that gift, put it to good use, discover what it is, and use it in multiplying service to the Church. It will benefit the Church. And I believe what Christ taught and what Paul is telling us here is it is absolutely crucial as a responsibility we have in our calling. It's going to be something that will unify the body of Christ. It will be something that builds up the Church. And ultimately, as it said in Ephesians, we're built up in love. And so the goal, well, what is the goal ultimately? You know, as a Church, as the body of Christ, that we are built up into a perfect Church. A beautiful bride is the symbolism that's also used in Scripture, that ultimately we'll grow to be more and more like Jesus Christ as we allow God to work in us and through us, and we utilize the gifts that He's given to serve the Church and ultimately build it up.

And so no wonder we have that vision statement that says, "Every one of us have been given a gift. We are a Church led by God's Holy Spirit." That's how our vision statements start, spiritual gifts. Gifts of the Spirit. Gifts of the Spirit. And so we're a Church led by God's Holy Spirit. We're joined and we're knit together. That's part of the evidence that we've been given a gift and we've been given the Spirit. And we're joined and knit together by what? Ephesians 4, our vision statement says the same thing, "By what every member supplies." Every one. It's not just a home office thing. It's not just a ministry thing. It's not just a deacon, deaconess thing. It's not just about ordinations. It's about what every member supplies. Every member supplies. And so that becomes so important that we all do our share. We're growing in love to fulfill God's purpose for the Church. That ultimately means we'll be a part of His family. That He's bringing many children to glory. And so, what an amazing aspect that spiritual gifts has to play when it comes to this whole aspect of the Church growing in love to be more and more like Jesus Christ.

So no wonder Paul began Chapter 12...if you're back there in Chapter 12, no wonder he began that chapter by saying, "I don't want you to be ignorant. I want you to be knowledgeable and understand the wonderful things that God has done for us." And it's all possible by the work of the Holy Spirit in us and the gifts that God has given. And so he takes a lot of time here in Chapter 12 and 13 and 14 to describe the workings of spiritual gifts. You go back to Chapter 12, let's take a look at a couple of these gifts that are given. And we'll take note of this so we can kind of break this down a little bit more thoroughly next time. So let's notice to begin with, verse 7 said.

1 Corinthians 12:7 "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all."

So this profits everyone. Well, what are these gifts? What do they look like?

1 Corinthians 12:8 It says, "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit."

So that's one, gift of the Spirit, the word of wisdom. Notice he emphasizes this idea through the spirit, their spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:9-10 “A second gift that can be given is the word of knowledge.”

The word of knowledge. What does that mean? Well, let's think about that for just a moment. He says, "To another, faith by the same Spirit." Interesting how he keeps connecting us back to gifts of the Spirit, by the Spirit. He says in verse 10, "To another, working of miracles." Remember we talked about the fact the extent of some of these gifts may not be through every generation. Do we have miraculous things? Well, maybe there are. Let's think about that. We'll talk more about that next time as well.

He also then says that not only are there miracles, he says, "To another, prophesy. To another, discerning of spirits. To another, different kinds of tongues. To another, the interpretation of tongues." And so he lists a number of things. Now, this isn't a total comprehensive list. He's going to talk about some others a little bit later. But he emphasizes specific gifts. And each time, did you notice the emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit? Verse 11 really brings that emphasis.

1 Corinthians 12:11 "But one and the same Spirit works all these, distributing to each one individually as He wills."

As He wills. And so hopefully what we've been able to do today is to kind of set a foundation for this whole concept of God working spiritual gifts in us. And what we'll do is we'll break these different gifts down next time. What exactly is, you know, the word of wisdom? What exactly are we talking about when we talk about gifts of healings? Do you have any of these gifts? I think if we can break it down and think more specifically about each of these individually, it'll help us to better determine, well, maybe God has given me this gift and I need to utilize this gift and expand this gift and serve the Church by this gift. So next time we'll plan to do that. We'll pick it up here in Chapter 12 and start in verse 8 and look more specifically at some of the connotation here in the Greek as well as what exactly do these various gifts look like in practical application? So we'll do that next time.