We continue our study of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit, the third blessed person of
the Godhead.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we confess.
And we are thinking about the ministry, about
the person and the works of the Holy
Spirit.
Today, on this tape in particular, we're going
to think about the gifts of the Spirit.
And this is one particular facet of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit on which we
must be informed.
Now, concerning spiritual gifts, Paul says to the
Corinthians, I would not have you to be
ignorant.
And in Romans chapter 12, at verse 3,
Paul says, And
there
are
other passages in the New Testament to which
we'll make reference as we go along.
But let's remember that the greatest gift of
our Lord to his church is the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
He told his disciples in the upper room,
This happened on the day of Pentecost.
God works to a calendar.
Long centuries before, God had told his people
about the feast of Pentecost.
And it was on this very day the
Spirit came.
With the Spirit, there came also gifts of
the Spirit.
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit.
And there are diversities of administrations, but the
same God who works all in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given
to every man in order that he might
profit the entire church.
1 Corinthians 12, 4 to 7.
This last verse means, you see, that any
and every gift of the Holy Spirit, these
are intended to be used for the profit
and advantage of everybody within the circle of
all true believers.
We should note that there is a most
unusual diversity of gifts.
The Holy Spirit knows no restriction in the
gifts he bestows.
Of course, he will never bestow any gift
that is evil, for he is the Holy
Spirit.
What comes from him is pure and good.
But there is an almost infinite mixture of
gifts with which he blesses the church.
Three great passages of Scripture there are that
deal with these gifts.
In addition to the ministries that our Lord
elaborated when he spoke to the disciples on
the night he was betrayed, the three passages
are in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and
14, and Ephesians 4.
Even the most cursory reading of these passages
will immediately demonstrate one thing.
The gifts vary in each list.
They are diverse, suited to differing individual qualifications,
and adaptable to every situation that the church
may face.
The giver is one, but the gifts are
many.
And not all have the same gifts.
God has appointed in the church first apostles,
second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles,
then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds
of tongues.
Are all apostles?
Are all prophets?
Are all teachers?
Do all possess gifts of healing?
Do all speak with tongues?
Do all interpret?
The answer to these questions, in each case,
is an emphatic negative.
No one has all these gifts.
As in the parable of the talents, to
one is given five talents, to another two,
to another one.
So is it with the gifts of the
Spirit.
All have at least one gift.
That's clear from Romans 12, 6.
Having then gifts differing according to the gift
that has been given to us.
Everybody has at least one gift.
We have gifts that differ, however, according to
the gift that has been given to us.
And no one has all the gifts.
Even apostles are singled out, and prophets too.
But even they don't possess all the gifts.
To them has been given a gift, or
to them have been given gifts of God,
the Holy Spirit, for the edifying of the
church, and for the building up of the
body of Christ.
When we think of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, we must be very careful that
we have studied them sufficiently well to know
how to defend ourselves against their abuse.
It's made clear that counterfeits of these gifts
can manifest themselves, and this has happened.
Church history has many a telling illustration of
how the gifts of the Holy Spirit have
been misused and misapplied.
The New Testament shows us men prepared to
offer money.
If only they might obtain the specific gifts
seen in the apostles.
Thy money perish with thee.
That was the stern rebuke of God's servant
to those who would prostitute a holy gift
of God for ignoble and selfish ends.
In the church at Corinth, the gifts of
the Holy Spirit were commercialized.
And had become a fruitful source of rivalry,
disorder, envy, and acrimony.
There were those who possessed only one gift,
but they claimed precedence over others with more
gifts than themselves.
They wanted priority and importance.
What had happened there was that carnal men
had come into possession of these gifts, and
they were using them for carnal ends.
Now this is very revealing.
It's doubtful if these men knew what they
were doing.
Satan is such a master of bombarding the
subconscious, it's quite feasible they didn't realize how
wrong their acts were.
No suggestion is made by Paul that the
gifts in the Corinthian church were not genuine.
But the gifts were being perverted to wrong
goals, and they were being subverted to unworthy
ends.
It's indeed strange that in a church of
which the apostle Paul could say that they
came behind in no gift, waiting for the
coming of the Lord, there were nonetheless carnalities
that would have disgraced a properly ordered pagan
assembly.
You and I must look for safeguards, otherwise
disaster looms.
The right kind of safeguard is to cling
to the verities and loyalties of the faith.
And the preeminent loyalty is, of course, recognition
of the lordship of Christ.
Let this point be stressed.
Let this safeguard continually be for us.
Our Lord said of the Holy Spirit, he
will not speak of himself, he will glorify
me.
John 16, 13 and 14.
In any assembly truly ordered by the Holy
Spirit, there will be much talk about the
Lord whom the Spirit loves to exalt.
For it's impossible to know Jesus Christ save
by the Holy Spirit.
Only the Holy Spirit can make Christ real.
And only when Jesus Christ is truly Lord,
does the Holy Spirit come to have his
rightful place in the company of the people
of God.
Over much talk or stress on the Holy
Spirit, with a corresponding diminishing of glory to
the Christ of God, is a sign that
the true way has been missed.
Seek then that Christ will be glorified.
Whatever gift comes from the Holy Spirit is
given to you in order that Christ might
be the better seen.
He shall glorify me, our Lord said concerning
the Holy Spirit.
And that is what happens when the Holy
Spirit possesses us.
And his gifts are manifest in us.
The gift that he has given, or the
gifts that he has given to us, they
are given in order that Jesus Christ might
be glorified and for no other reason.
Another safeguard against possible abuse of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit is a rightful defense
of the word of God.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
we are told.
His gifts will therefore never be at variance
with his word.
The Spirit of Christ, who is the Spirit
of truth, will verify, corroborate, affirm, interpret, and
attest the word of God.
There's no wisdom given of God that isn't
in accordance with the Holy Scriptures.
In the body of Christ, order will rule,
for God isn't the author of confusion.
Edification will be known, because the meek he
will guide in judgment, the meek he will
teach his way.
If there be gifts of prophecy and speaking
in tongues with interpretations, none of these should
ever conflict with the revelation already fully given.
Overall, love reigns supreme.
Now these gifts are very unique.
These gifts transcend natural talents, and yet they're
related to them.
When God first planned the epistle to the
Romans, he foresaw a man who would have
such natural talent and such spiritual gift as
would make it possible for him.
To write this wonderful letter, and so is
it still.
The days of the apostles are not past,
they're still with us.
The Holy Spirit renews, vitalizes native powers, quickens
natural endowment, and emphasizes our basic capabilities.
Even as fire quickens, so does the Holy
Spirit energize and endure us with new powers
to God's glory.
What is impossible with man becomes possible when
he, the Spirit of glory, has come.
He works through our natural talents, and yet
his gifts transcend them.
There are many gifts of the Spirit.
Every time I go to the New Testament
and try to enumerate them, I find a
different number.
But somehow, that's the way I think it
ought to be.
Gifts such as wisdom, faith, miracles, healings, knowledge,
discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, teaching,
leading, helping, renewing, administrating.
These are all gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Without the Spirit of God, we would never
know one of them.
True, wisdom and knowledge are clearly related to
the mind, to intelligence, and to learning.
Nonetheless, they can't be discovered by the natural
powers of man.
No more can faith, though it has been
called man's sixth sense.
For we walk by faith, we live by
faith, we do everything by faith.
What of healing?
When James speaks of healing, he refers to
something transcending the normal gifts of medical science.
These were not despised by the early Christian.
Was not Dr. Luke numbered among Paul's party
on the second missionary journey?
But the gift of healing was a spiritual
ministry fulfilled by the elders of the church,
who were themselves filled with the Spirit.
And tongues?
Let's note that they were a recognized factor
among the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Paul wished that all who heard him might
speak in tongues.
How often have I longed that all the
elders of my church might thus, in the
way in which Paul meant, speak in tongues.
It would be a clear sign that God
was doing something unusual and great among them.
The gift of tongues, however, it comes last
in the list, and it comes first in
controversy.
There's a gift of tongues that is given
for a sign, as there is a gift
of tongues for the edifying of the body
of Christ.
Careful study of the New Testament places the
gift of tongues among the gifts of the
Spirit, and it must be specially preserved from
abuse.
That it has been abused, perhaps more than
any other gift, may be well true.
Possibly also there have been more divisions caused
through the exercise of this gift than through
any other.
We must simply be careful, be watchful, beware
of grieving the Spirit of God, whereby we
are sealed to the day of our redemption.
Tongues are given to us select company, and
to say anything else is to deny God's
word.
What are the objects of these gifts?
Paul points out that the gifts of the
Spirit are intended to equip us for service
for our Lord.
In Romans 12 and verse 6, as we
read, having then gifts differing according to the
grace that is given to us, whether prophecy,
let us prophesy according to the proportion of
faith, our ministry, let's wait on our ministering,
or he that teacheth on teaching, or he
that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let
him do it with simplicity, he that ruleth
with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.
By these gifts, it is planned that we
too should glorify Christ, even as the Holy
Spirit glorifies Christ.
Many have argued that some of these gifts
of the Spirit ended with the apostolic age,
but the reasoning is suspect.
At many other periods of church history, these
gifts have been seen, and it wouldn't be
difficult to mount overwhelming evidence to demonstrate that
such gifts are visible in the church today.
There is good reason to state that the
present age is one in greater need of
divine manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit
than in any other.
We live in a time when occult manifestations
are multiplied, and in many cases there are
counterfeits of the divine.
God's most holy and divine plan itself can
be counterfeited.
The wisdom of this world is mighty in
its ability to show forth the exceeding greatness
of the powers of evil, and never was
there a greater need, I believe, than today,
for the exercise of all true spiritual gifts.
The gifts are given to glorify Christ.
In so doing, they make Christ desirable.
They show us that he is Lord over
all, King of kings and Lord of lords.
To him has been given all power in
heaven and earth.
It's at his knee that everyone must bow,
and every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the
Father.
Now, it's an utter impossibility for man to
do this in his own strength.
By ourselves, we taint all we touch.
We tarnish everything we handle.
But when the Holy Spirit indwells us and
is working in power within and through us,
then Christ can be revealed.
Then the glory of the Son of Man
can be perceived in the likeness of sinful
flesh.
We must distinguish carefully between the fruit of
the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.
Fruit and gifts are not identical.
Gifts are endowments of power.
Fruit is a reflection, a demonstration of character.
True fruit is an evidence of true holiness
of life.
But sad to say it's possible to possess
spiritual gifts without corresponding evidence of Christ's likeness
in our lives.
Gifts may operate immediately, while fruit takes time
to develop.
Fruit is expected of all.
This true fruit of the Spirit in which
love is supreme.
Gifts are for those for whom they have
been prepared.
All true believers must bear fruit.
But gifts can never be a substitute for
the fruit of the Spirit.
It's essential that we understand the real object
of spiritual gifts.
They're given to glorify Christ, to glorify God
the Father Almighty through Jesus Christ his Son.
But for this end to be accomplished, the
gifts we have received must be used.
And the whole thrust of the passage in
1 Corinthians 14, 14 is that the gift
of the Spirit is intended to help the
church, and that each man has received from
the Spirit whatever gifts the Spirit knows is
best for him to receive.
Now some say that all must speak in
tongues.
But St. Paul expressly asks, do all speak
in tongues?
And the answer is clearly no.
Fruit is demanded of all.
Every manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit.
It is not the case that one Christian
should show the fruit of joy, another the
fruit of peace, while yet another manifests the
fruit of long-suffering or self-control.
No.
The fruit should be seen in holiness of
character in all true Christians.
And all the ninefold manifestation of the fruit
of the Spirit should be seen in us.
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, self-control.
That's the fruit of the Spirit.
And in every true Christian, by the Holy
Spirit, this fruit should be known, for this
is the mark of a holy life.
But not so with regard to the gifts.
To one is given one gift.
To another, another gift.
To another.
That's a scriptural principle.
To read from this that all should ever
speak in tongues is a truth that's alien
to the Bible.
Now, many did, of course, speak in other
tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
We'll read that.
To argue, however, this speaking in tongues is
identical with what the Corinthian church knew is
quite wrong.
In Acts chapter 2, the multitude heard in
their own tongue the wonderful works of God.
They needed no interpreter.
But in Corinth, St. Paul expressly states that
there must be no speaking in tongues without
interpretation.
This in itself differentiates the tongues of Corinth
from the tongues of Acts.
What needs to be said about this is
that this gift of the Spirit is for
those whom he has selected.
As is true of all the other gifts
of the Spirit, you cannot come up to
some counter where all the gifts of the
Spirit are displayed and choose what you want.
No, the Holy Spirit alone is the giver.
It is he who in his divine sovereignty
gives to us what he knows is best
for us.
He has planned from all eternity that we
should be a personality of a certain kind.
And being such a personality, we can use
a certain gift that he will give.
To the praise and to the glory of
Jesus Christ our Lord, let us receive the
gift he gives and use it for his
glory.
I know of Christians clearly endowed by the
Spirit with some special gift for the edification
of the Church who have gone through life
longing for some other gift than the one
that they have received.
This to me is very sad.
True spiritual discernment, which is one of the
gifts of the Spirit that I believe he's
prepared to grant to all who seek it,
should make clear to every Christian what special
gift we possess.
It's of this simplest thinking when he writes,
Let no man think more highly of himself
than he ought to think, but to think
soberly, according as God has dealt to every
man the measure of his gift.
When we are prepared for that, prepared to
ask God for wisdom to know what our
special gift is, then God is indeed glorified.
Christ is glorified.
The Holy Spirit is glorified.
We manifest the tokens of divine life and
power ordained from all eternity for us to
enjoy and to use.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are very
exceptional.
As we have seen, the Holy Spirit is
himself a gift.
And in the gift of the Spirit there
are gifts.
Wherefore he saith when he ascended upon high
he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto
men.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ.
Now there are diversities of administrations but the
same Lord.
And there are diversities of ministries but it
is the same God which worketh all in
all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given
to every man in order that the whole
church might profit.
The manifestation of the Spirit isn't always the
same.
There are diversities of gifts, differences of administration,
operation, and manifestation.
But it's the same Spirit who gives these
differing gifts.
There is a manifold variety of the one
Spirit.
There are varieties according to temperament, according to
capability, according to grace, and equally according to
function.
The failure to remember this can ensnare the
unwary.
We can look for experiences and gifts in
others and expect that we should see them.
And sometimes the gifts and the experiences we
see in others we long to see in
ourselves.
But what we need to remember is that
the Holy Spirit has given to us the
gift that in His sovereignty He knows His
best.
Let us take that gift and let us
use it to the praise and glory of
our God.
And out of the gift or gifts with
which we have been blessed, may Jesus Christ
be exalted, glorified, and praised within His church
both now and forevermore.