SERMON: GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT – TONGUES AND INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction        

            -- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 14:1-12

 

1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

 

6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

 

-- in his book, A Gentle Thunder, (Word, 1995, pp. 139-140) Max Lucado wrote about this man who was going on a trip and saw someone carrying a Bible 

            -- “Are you a believer?” the first man asked the second -- “Yes,” he said excitedly

             -- the first man knew you couldn't be too careful -- just because you carry a Bible and say you're a believer doesn't mean it's true -- so he continued to ask probing questions

-- “Virgin birth?” he asked.’ -- “I accept it.”

-- "Deity of Jesus?” -- “No doubt.”

-- “Death of Christ on the cross?” --“Absolutely.”

-- Could it be that he was actually face to face with a Christian? -- Perhaps. -- but, nonetheless, he continued his checklist.

-- “Status of man?” -- “Sinner in need of grace.” -- “Definition of grace?” -- “God doing for man what man cannot do.

-- “Return of Christ?” -- “Imminent.”

-- “Bible?” -- “Inspired.” -- “The Church?” -- “The body of Christ.”

-- the first man started getting excited. -- “Conservative or liberal?” -- his fellow traveler was getting interested, too. -- “Conservative.” -- his heart began to beat faster.

-- “Heritage?” -- “Southern Congregationalist Holy Son of God Dispensationalist Triune Convention.” -- the first man was amazed -- that was his own heritage

-- “Branch?” -- “Pre-millennial, post-trib, noncharismatic, King James, one-cup communion.” -- the first man's eyes misted as he began to think he had met another true [believer]

            -- he had only one other question. -- “Is your pulpit wooden or fiberglass?" -- “Fiberglass,” the other man responded.

-- the first man withdrew his hand, stiffened his neck, and hissed back, “Heretic,” as he walked off

 

-- while this story that Lucado shared is a funny interchange, unfortunately, it is all too real – for in the church, we have a tendency to argue and divide based on non-essential elements of our faith

-- as we continue in our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines and the spiritual gifts, I wanted us to be aware of this tendency, because the understanding of spiritual gifts is one of those elements in the church today that has brought conflict and division – especially, the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues, which we will be talking about this morning

-- in our local community, we have several denominations that have arisen because of a difference of understanding about the expression of charismatic spiritual gifts, primarily healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues

-- some denominations and communities of faith, most notably the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, and the various Pentecostal branches, all put an emphasis on speaking in tongues – and while the official doctrines of these churches note that not all believers speak in tongues, it is a common understanding in local congregations that believers should speak in tongues and the lack of that gift may be evidence of a lack of being baptized in the Holy Spirit

-- other churches and denominations disagree, and contend that the gift of tongues was given during the apostolic period of the church and has passed from existence – in other words, some churches and denominations teach that no one is gifted with the ability to speak in tongues in our day and age

-- so, as we approach the topic of speaking in tongues and the interpretation in tongues this morning, I am going to give you my understanding of what the Bible says about this topic – in my mind, this is an element of our faith that is non-essential, meaning that it is okay to have a difference of opinion about this – I have no problem with you disagreeing with my stance, and I would be happy to have a discussion about this with you

-- however, I will maintain that speaking in tongues is not required for salvation, justification, or sanctification – I stand against anyone that says you are not saved if you don’t speak in tongues -- and that will be the understanding that we are going to take as we move forward on this subject

 

II.  Scriptural Affirmation of Speaking in Tongues

            -- to begin, let’s answer a basic question – is the gift of speaking in tongues a true spiritual gift given to believers by the Holy Spirit? – the answer to that is a resounding, “Yes”

            -- last week, in our introduction to the gifts of the Spirit, we read in 1 Corinthians 12:10, that speaking in different kinds of tongues or languages and the ability to interpret these tongues are gifts of the Spirit – so, yes, speaking in tongues is a true spiritual gift – and we see it mentioned in other passages in the Bible

            -- the first reference to anyone speaking in tongues was given to us in the Acts 2:1-4, where we read of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church at Pentecost – let me read those verses to you right now – Acts 2:1-4

 

Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

 

            -- quite clearly, the Bible tells us in verse 4 that all of the believers there were filled with the Holy Spirit – they were indwelled with the very presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit – and they were empowered to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them

            -- we also see two other instances of new believers being gifted with the ability to speak in tongues when they were filled with the Spirit – in Acts 10:44-46, Peter has been sent to speak to a group of Gentiles in Caesarea at Cornelius’ house – when they put their faith in Jesus and were indwelled with the Holy Spirit, they began speaking in tongues

            -- and, finally, in Acts 19:1-6, believers in Ephesus began to speak in tongues after they received Jesus and were baptized in His name, being indwelled by the Holy Spirit

            -- so, without a doubt, yes – the gift of speaking in tongues is supported in Scripture

           

            -- now what does it mean to “speak in tongues?”

– it’s important to note here that the Greek word translated, “tongues,” both in the Book of Acts and in 1 Corinthians 12 can also be translated as “languages” – which tells us that the disciples who were given this gift at Pentecost and the disciples in Corinth and Ephesus who received this gift were not speaking unknown words or an unknown language, but were speaking in known languages of their day

            -- this understanding is supported by the response of the crowd in Acts 2:7-12

 

Acts 2:7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

 

            -- on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were given the ability to speak other languages that they did not previously know, and the native speakers of those languages heard the words of the disciples and knew what they were saying

 -- however, in the other two passages we looked at in Acts – Acts 10 and Acts 19 – we are just told that the new believers spoke in tongues or other languages – there is no further elaboration to tell us if these were known languages or an unknown tongue

-- which brings us back to our original passage in 1 Corinthians 14 – look back with me at verse 1

 

1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.

 

– skip down to the second part of verse 9

 

1 Corinthians 14:9b Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12a So it is with you.

 

-- so, this muddies the water a little in regards to what speaking in tongues entails – in the Book of Acts, it seems to be clear that those disciples who spoke in tongues were actually speaking in known languages, even though they did not have the previous ability to do so

-- but here in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul seems to imply that the believers in Corinth who were speaking in tongues were speaking in an unknown language, because he says that they were not speaking to people, but to God – and in verses 9-11, he talks about speaking unintelligible words and the hearers not being able to understand the speakers

-- this could be because the believers in Corinth gifted with the ability to speak in tongues were speaking in another known language, but there was no one in Corinth who understood that particular language – for instance, if someone stood up in here and started speaking Hungarian, I doubt that any of us would understand them, although they are speaking a known language – so, that’s one possible interpretation

-- alternately, it could be that God had gifted the believers in Corinth with the ability to speak a language not known on earth – as Paul alluded to in 1 Corinthians 13:1, the tongue or language of angels

-- we just don’t know – Scripture is not clear on this, so let me give you my thoughts based on my experiences

 

            -- several years ago, we were invited to attend a service at a Church of God here in Valdosta – we had some friends who were singers, and the church was going to record a live worship album, and they invited us to come with them

            -- this Church of God was known as a charismatic church, and members there were supposedly gifted in the more charismatic and visible spiritual gifts, primarily healing and speaking in tongues – the gift of prophecy was not a major emphasis in this particular congregation

            -- so, the choir came out and sang a few songs that were recorded live – and then there was a short break while the music producers reviewed the tape and then prepared for the rest of the service

            -- during this break, the pastor led the congregation in a time of prayer – he began by praying a public prayer and then introduced a time of private prayer – and immediately, people throughout the congregation began standing up, praying in tongues – from my perspective, it was cacophony – it was noisy chaos – everyone was just praying out loud – some in English – some in tongues – but there was no order – which I believe is important

            -- if you look down at verse 27 here, you see Paul’s command in regards to order in worship – verse 27

 

1 Corinthians 14:27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

 

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

 

            -- so, I am a believer that there should be order in worship – that it should be conducted in a way that is not chaotic, but purposeful – so, coming from a distinctly non-charismatic denomination and upbringing, this whole scene of people just praying at the same time and in different tongues was disconcerting – it was confusing – to me, it was just chaotic, but everyone there accepted it as normal – which, for them, it probably was

            -- so, I sat there in the midst of this noise and was beginning to fill overwhelmed with all of it – when suddenly, one voice rose above all the others – from the congregation, one voice began to speak – and it wasn’t loud – it wasn’t overpowering – but when this person began to speak, the entire sanctuary fell silent – and this voice spoke out in prayer for several minutes – it seemed like their voice permeated the hearts of each person there – filling that sanctuary from wall to wall

            -- it was obvious that something truly spiritual was happening – and, as I listened, my heart calmed – I felt peace – and I began to realize that I knew some of what was being said – I am not trained in Hebrew, but I know a few words from Bible Study and from the seminary classes I’ve had – and I caught those words amidst all the others being offered up by this one voice in prayer

            -- I clearly heard Adonai – I clearly heard other Hebrew words – and in the silence and in my heart, I knew that this person was praying in Hebrew – after he finished, there was complete silence in the congregation – no one moved – no one spoke – everyone just sat there in the silence

            -- finally, the pastor came forward – and in a prayerful attitude, he interpreted what had been prayed – he spoke in English a translation of the prayer, and his interpretation matched what few Hebrew words I had pulled from the prayer that had been in tongues

            -- what I witnessed that night was what Paul directed in verses 27-28 – that if anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be orderly and someone must interpret – and for that one lone voice, this is what happened – I have no doubt whatsoever that this person had the gift of tongues and that he had been supernaturally enabled to pray in another language, presumably Hebrew, during that worship service

            -- so, jumping ahead – is the gift of speaking in tongues still given today? – I think so – I will contend that I have seen it in person and know it to be real – and I will say that this person was also speaking a known language and not in an other-worldly language

 

            -- but what about all the others? – what about the other voices that were being offered up that night in prayer – the cacophony of noise that I experienced and that disturbed my soul?

            -- I’m not saying that none of those people had the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues – but I believe that the majority of them did not – and this is a concern I have with our charismatic and Pentecostal brethren

            -- just like what was happening in the church at Corinth, there is such an emphasis on the visible gift of speaking in tongues, in some of these congregations, people feel pressured to participate and speak in tongues, whether they have been so gifted by the Spirit or not

            -- I have heard people in these congregations say that if someone did not speak in tongues, that they did not have the Spirit or had not been baptized in the Spirit – so, to not speak in tongues, then, cast doubt on a person’s salvation – and in that situation, I believe this can force people to adopt the act of speaking in tongues whether they can or not

            -- I honestly believe that many of the people in that Church of God that night were forcing themselves to speak in tongues so that they could be regarded as true believers – and that is a problem

            -- for want of a better word, can you fake this gift? – absolutely – and I’m sure that happens

            -- but more worrisome is the concern that some people do begin to speak in other tongues, but not through the empowerment and manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but from other spiritual forces

            -- there is the possibility that some people, in their desire to speak in tongues like everyone else, have opened themselves unknowingly to satanic influences – in 1 John 4:1, John cautions us to not believe every spirit, but to test the spirits to see whether they are from God

            -- and while believers cannot be possessed by demons, we can be influenced by them – we can be affected by them – and it is possible that some people unknowingly speak in tongues through demonic influences

            -- this is one reason why the gift of interpretation of tongues is vital – if there is no one to interpret tongues in a congregation, then there is no way to know if what is being said is from God or not – and if there is no one to interpret tongues in a congregation, then there is no value in what is being spoken

-- that is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:27 that if anyone speaks in a tongue, it must be done orderly and someone must interpret, otherwise, the church will receive no edification from the tongue being presented – he goes on in verse 28 to say that if there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church

-- sometimes, the person with the gift of speaking in tongues also has the gift of interpretation – verse 13

 

1 Corinthians 14:13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.

 

– sometimes, this gift is given to another person in the congregation – for example, the pastor at the Church of God that I was at when that person prayed in tongues that night

-- so, based on Scripture, speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift, but it must always be accompanied by interpretation, if it is to be practiced in a public setting

 

-- in regards to the interpretation by some believers and denominations that speaking in tongues was a gift of the Spirit only given in apostolic times, there is no real support for that in Scripture – so, I believe that it is still a valid spiritual gift – although it may not be as needed in congregations today as it was in the apostolic and early missionary period

-- people today have the ability to translate languages in so many different ways – we have Bibles in almost every known language – so the need for someone to have and exercise this gift is not as great – but I believe the Holy Spirit still gifts believers with this ability as He wills

-- so, what about the non-charismatic denominations – why don’t people in the Baptist Church or the Methodist Church routinely pray and speak in tongues?

-- well, I have a theory – a two-part theory – first, it could be the reason why we don’t see people speaking in tongues in these denominations is the principle that like begets like – that we form ourselves into tribes based on various things – we form ourselves into tribes and communities based on our likes and our habits and our preferences and other things

-- so, if someone realizes that they have the gift of speaking in tongues, they probably search out other people who have that gift, and join with them – they congregate together – and so, you see groups of people with this shared gift – and over time, this has developed into the charismatic and Pentecostal denominations

-- in other words, if a person who was raised in a non-charismatic denomination or church suddenly found themselves gifted with the ability to speak in tongues, they would probably go find another church where this gift was more accepted and celebrated – this would explain why we only find speakers of tongues in these particular congregations

-- and, secondly, one reason we don’t see anyone in a non-charismatic church speaking in tongues is the inverse of what I was talking about before in regards to being pressured to fit in – I had said that I believe some people in charismatic congregations feel pressured to speak in tongues because everyone else apparently has that gift – conversely, people with the gift of speaking in tongues in a non-charismatic church are told that it is a gift that no longer exists – and so, they feel pressured to not exercise this gift, even if they have it

-- the Bible tells us we can quench the Holy Spirit – we can suppress His presence and activity in our lives – and I believe that if someone is given a charismatic spiritual gift in a non-charismatic church, they will be pressured to not exercise that gift and will suppress the ability to do so

-- so, it’s not that people in a non-charismatic church never receive the gift of speaking in tongues, but they are discouraged and pressured to not express this gift

-- once again, this is merely my experience – what I have seen among friends in both charismatic and non-charismatic churches – in fact, I had friends who were raised in the Methodist Church who left that church and joined the Church of God because they felt they had a charismatic gift and could speak in tongues, which was discouraged in the church they were in – so, I know it happens

 

            -- let’s circle back to the question of what the Bible means when it talks about speaking in tongues – like we said, I think it’s fairly clear that when the Bible references speaking in tongues, it is referring to the supernatural ability to speak another language – so, a believer who has the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues can speak in a foreign language, without any prior training in speaking that language

            -- now, I’m not sure what that looks like in practice – I know the gentleman that night in the Church of God spoke in Hebrew – we heard him in Hebrew – so, he was speaking a foreign language and that required someone to interpret his words for those of us who didn’t know Hebrew

            -- I have wondered, though, if perhaps someone with this gift might speak in their native language – say English – and have a foreigner hear it in their own language – in other words, I could be up here speaking in English, and a foreign visitor might think I am speaking to them in their language – I could see where this would be very valuable for missionaries, who would be able to speak in their native language but have the people in the country where they are hear the words in their language

-- I just don’t know – the passage about Pentecost from the Book of Acts could be interpreted that way – but, if this is true, it is certainly not always the case – otherwise, there wouldn’t be a need for anyone with the gift of interpretation, as Paul directs in 1 Corinthians 14

            -- but regardless, we do know from Scripture that some people with the gift of speaking in tongues specifically have the gift of speaking in other languages

 

            -- so, what about speaking in the tongues of angels, as Paul references in 1 Corinthians 13:1? – this seems to be what he is referring to in 1 Corinthians 14:2, when he says that anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God – and that no one understands them – they utter mysteries by the Spirit?

            -- these verses imply that in addition to speaking other languages, some people are given the ability to speak in a non-worldly tongue – the tongue of angels, if you will

            -- John Bevere, in his book Drawing Near, agrees that there are different types of tongues – some tongues or languages are given for unbelievers and for use in public worship – but others are given solely for private use or for intercessory prayer

            – so, he contends – along with other people in the charismatic movement – that the ability to speak in the tongues of angels or in a heavenly tongue is another aspect of this gift, but it is specifically limited for private use – for private edification – if someone has this gift, they are to use it for personal growth as part of their private prayers and private worship – so, that’s the two thoughts about what the Bible means when it refers to speaking in tongues

 

            -- let’s bring this home – what do we know about the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues based on what we have looked at this morning?

            -- first, the gift of speaking in tongues is still a gift given by the Holy Spirit – there is no scriptural basis to support the idea that this was a limited gift that was only given during the apostolic period in the church

            -- second, not everyone has the gift of speaking in tongues – if this were so, Scripture would say so – but it is clear from Scripture that some people were given this gift, and others were not – and this makes it clear that the gift of speaking in tongues is not evidence of salvation nor required for salvation – you are not saved because you speak in tongues – and you can be saved even if you don’t speak in tongues

            -- third, we need to exercise caution and discernment when it comes to speaking in tongues – both personally and to others – as John said, we are to test the spirits and make sure they are of God – and this especially true when it comes to speaking in tongues

            -- many other religions have adherents speak in tongues as part of their religion – so, just because someone has this ability, doesn’t mean it has come from God

            -- along those lines, we need to be careful that we are not pressured into speaking in tongues or pressure someone else into speaking in tongues – and, we need to be careful that we do not allow people to pressure us into not speaking in tongues just because that is not an accepted practice in whatever congregation or gathering we are in – let God be your guide and do what you feel He is leading you to do, not man

            -- fourth, speaking in tongues should be orderly and not chaotic – the Bible makes it clear that when someone – or several people – in a congregation have this gift, that only two or three of them are to speak in a worship service – and that they are to take turns and not speak over each other

            -- and, fifth, no one should speak in tongues unless there is someone who has the gift of interpretation of tongues present in the gathering – that can be the person who is speaking, if they are also gifted with interpretation – or it can be someone else – but no one is to speak in tongues unless there is someone to interpret – if there is not, they are to keep quiet and speak to God through their spirit only

            -- that summarizes what we have covered this morning, so, in closing, let me share this

 

III.  Closing

            -- unless you are completely off the grid, everyone in here is aware of the recent controversy about the Super Bowl halftime show this year, featuring the Puerto Rican rapper known as Bad Bunny

            -- not getting into the political aspects of his appearance, there were valid complaints about the halftime show – Bad Bunny primarily speaks and sings in Spanish – he has been intentional in his efforts to promote his Latin heritage and language, and generally refuses to change his singing to match the audience

            -- so, at the halftime show, Bad Bunny entertained a primarily English-speaking crowd with Spanish lyrics – and, to top it off, there was no translation available – although the Super Bowl itself offered close captions in a variety of different languages during the game, when the halftime show started, the closed captioning was halted – which meant that people who did not speak or understand Spanish were not able to understand what Bad Bunny was saying and singing

            -- the same thing happened at the 2023 Grammy Awards when Bad Bunny appeared, which was the first time that a musical act that did not speak or sing in English was featured in such a prestigious timeslot – Bad Bunny sang in Spanish, but no closed captioning or translation into English was offered

            -- critics noted that even though Bad Bunny is the largest streaming artist in the world, considerations should have been made to those who did not understand Spanish

 

            -- this aptly sums up the message of the Bible when it comes to the gift of speaking in tongues – this is why the gift of speaking in tongues is always paired with the gift of interpretation in tongues

            -- just like we can’t enjoy a concert in a language that we don’t understand, we can’t enjoy and receive knowledge and edification from spiritual messages that we don’t have the ability to understand

            -- God is a God of order – a God who desires to communicate with us – a God who doesn’t want us to guess at the message – but to hear His words and respond to His words with grateful hearts – we can’t do that if we don’t understand what is being said

-- God wants us to hear Him and to know Him and to respond to His word – this tells us that all these spiritual gifts are given for the common good – and that means we have to be able to understand the tongues being offered if we are to receive good from them

            -- so, if you have this spiritual gift, I encourage you to exercise it – to use it for the edification of the church – but only if there is someone who can interpret what you are saying

            -- remember, it’s not about us – it’s about God and His message and carrying that message to the world – even if that is in a different tongue or language

            -- with that admonition, let us close in prayer

 

SERMON: SPIRITUAL GIFTS

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

 

1 Corinthians 12:1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

 

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

 

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

 

            -- in 1978, Blue Oyster Cult released a song that would become its signature hit – when you think of Blue Oyster Cult, you immediately think of the song, “Don’t Fear the Reaper”

-- but what made this such a memorable song? – for years, people would listen to it as a whole and enjoy it, without thinking about what all went into it – that is, until the year 2000, when Saturday Night Live aired a skit about the recording of the song with Christopher Walken playing the record producer, which made the song legendary

-- this skit featured Will Ferrell playing the cowbell – and every time the band recorded the song, Walken would come back out and famously say, “I liked it, but it needs more cowbell” – and they would start again, with Will Ferrell becoming more and more outlandish on the cowbell as the skit continued

-- while there is some truth in that skit – the cowbell was actually added in after the initial recording of the song – it brings out a good question – who would ever have thought that a person in the background playing a cowbell would turn out to be so important to the success and longevity of this song?

– the cowbell musician is more recognized than the lead singer, the drummer, or the guitarist – the cowbell is what everyone remembers from the song

            -- and I bring this up – not just because this is one of my favorite SNL skits of all time – but because it illustrates so beautifully the spiritual principle that we are going to talk about today

 

            -- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines and the spiritual gifts – so far in this series, we have talked about the necessity of having spiritual discipline in our lives to help grow in grace and build on our relationship with God – either by reading or listening to the Bible – through prayer – through fellowship and worship – or through acts such as fasting and intentionally setting aside things that are distracting us and hindering our walk with Christ

            -- as we mentioned, you may find just one of these spiritual disciplines meaningful in your life, or you may be drawn to several of them – the important thing is that you find some way to stay connected to God and grow in your knowledge and relationship with Him by being consistent with that spiritual discipline

            -- today, we are shifting gears from what we do to reach God to talk about what He has done for us – God has given us His very presence through the person of the Holy Spirit to sanctify and empower us to serve Him in His Kingdom on earth today – one of the ways the Holy Spirit does this is through spiritual gifts

 

II.  Spiritual Gifts

            -- look back with me now at verse 1 and let’s get started in our discussion on spiritual gifts

 

1 Corinthians 12:1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

 

            -- up to this point in the Epistle of 1 Corinthians, Paul has been addressing some issues and concerns he had with the church at Corinth – as you probably know, the church at Corinth was special – they were a very worldly church – they were mostly Gentiles who had been raised and brought up in pagan religions – and they had adopted the morals and the customs of the world around them

            -- and now, as they were trying to begin to live this new life with Christ, they didn’t quite understand what that was supposed to look like – and they ended up bringing with them a lot of baggage from their pagan upbringing and the culture around them

            -- at the same time, you had several in the church who really were growing in their faith and were very devout followers of Jesus – so, this led to conflict and division among the Christians – and Paul addresses that early on in this epistle, along with how the church members needed to submit and follow the leadership of the men that God had placed over them and not the people who had come in and were claiming to be apostles and leaders, but were not true believers

            -- he went on to write about the problems the church had with incest and sexual immorality among their members, and what they should do about it – and he gave guidance on marriage and how they should live and carry on now that they were Christians

            -- he talked about idol worship and eating food that had been sacrificed to idols – and how the Lord’s supper should be conducted in the church so that it was done in a righteous manner

            -- and when you read through 1 Corinthians up to this point, you can sense that the believers there didn’t really know how to live as Christians – even if they wanted to, they didn’t seem capable of doing so

 

            -- so, here in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul gives them the answer of how to live for Christ as believers – how to be obedient to God’s commands and to live righteous and holy lives for Him, even in their corrupt and pagan society

            -- Paul recognized that the Corinthians had no real understanding of the Holy Spirit or how the Holy Spirit worked within the lives of believers to sanctify them and empower them to live holy lives

            -- in verse 1, Paul says, “I don’t you to be uninformed” – some translations say, “ignorant” – of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in your lives

            -- Paul is pointing out – he’s trying to get the Corinthians to see and understand -- that the key to doing this Christian life doesn’t come from us – it comes from God – from God’s very presence within us – the Holy Spirit

            -- if we try to live the Christian life on our own, we will fail – we can only do it through the power of the Holy Spirit within us

            -- so, Paul reminds the Corinthians that when they were pagans, they were led and influenced by idols and false teachers – but now, they had the Holy Spirit living within them, who would lead them and influence them and help them to live their lives for God and not the world any longer

 

            -- we still struggle with the same things the Corinthians did – the church today looks more like the folks at Corinth than anything else – we are a very worldly church – and part of the reason for that is that we have forgotten and neglected the Holy Spirit in our lives – we’re just not relying on Him and letting Him influence us and lead us in the way of Christ

            -- we’ve talked about the ministry of the Holy Spirit before, so I’m not going to go through that this morning – if you have questions, I’ll be happy to meet with you and talk about them with you

            -- this morning, I want on us to focus on one aspect of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives that has been given to us to help us become the church that God wants us to be – and this is through the gifts of the Spirit that Paul talks about in verse 1

            -- so, what are spiritual gifts?

 

-- look at verse 4

 

1 Corinthians 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

 

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

 

-- spiritual gifts come from God – they are special, God-given abilities bestowed by the Holy Spirit upon believers to strengthen the church, serve others, and advance God's Kingdom – to work for the common good

-- as Paul says here, there are different kinds of gifts, but they all come from the Spirit – there are different kinds of service and workings – things God wants us to do – but they all come from the same source – the Lord God Almighty

-- spiritual gifts are literally the Holy Spirit working in you and through you to accomplish God’s will in the world today – gifts that are given to build His church and to share God’s will and God’s message of hope and salvation to those around us

 

            -- one thing I want you to understand about spiritual gifts is that these are not the same thing as natural talents – talents are inherited -- those are things that you are born with – things like the ability to sing – or to play musical instruments – or to be really good at athletics or understanding mechanical things – natural talents are part of you – you have these talents whether you are a Christian or not

-- spiritual gifts are different – we know this from their very name – they are a gift – they are something that has been given to us by God – it is not something that we already had before we were Christians

-- as we said, the gifts of the Spirit are supernatural abilities that the Holy Spirit gives us after we become Christians -- the only people that have these spiritual gifts are Christians – since they come from the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, spiritual gifts can only be given to those people who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior and put their faith in His atoning death on the cross for the forgiveness of their sins

-- they are the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives in specific ways – and, as Paul says here, within a church there will be different gifts – different kinds of service – and different kinds of working

-- remember that old commercial that had the tag line, “Maybe she was born with it -- Maybe it’s Maybellene” – that’s the difference between natural talents and spiritual gifts -- what we are born with are talents – what we are given as Christians are the gifts of the Spirit

 

-- every Christian has a spiritual gift – and if you are a Christian, that means you – you have a spiritual gift – a supernatural ability -- to do something for God and His church as the Holy Spirit works through you to build up the church and minister to this world in God’s name

-- all Christians have at least one spiritual gift – some may have more than one – it depends on how the Spirit distributes the gift and the need of the church at that time

            -- some spiritual gifts are obvious because they are visible – it’s easy to see when someone is exercising a visible gift of the Spirit – such as teaching or preaching or speaking in tongues

-- other gifts are not so obvious, because they are hidden from the world, but still very much needed in the church – gifts that are sometimes hard to see are those like wisdom or discernment or faith – these gifts are behind-the-scenes gifts

-- the people who are given these behind-the-scene gifts aren’t usually standing up before the congregation or out in the world serving people -- but like we learned from the story of the cowbell in “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” all spiritual gifts are needed in order for the body of Christ to reach its potential and for God’s Kingdom to be advanced on earth

-- there can be no hope of ever getting a church to operate as it was intended to do until every member recognizes and begins to exercise the spiritual gift they have received

-- every gift and every person is needed

 

– and I want to make sure you understand that – the church at Corinth struggled with this understanding of spiritual gifts – they were putting more emphasis on the visible spiritual gifts, especially speaking in tongues – and looking down on the people who didn’t have those visible gifts

-- but Scripture makes it clear -- one gift is no more valuable than another – just because some gifts are more visible doesn’t make them more valuable or necessary than the gifts that are hidden behind the scenes

-- if God has given you this gift – no matter what it is – then there is a reason and purpose for it – and we need to understand that and not look more favorably on those who have the more visible gifts nor look down on those who don’t – for all these gifts are needed – and God has distributed them as He willed

-- as Dave Black points out -- who knows but that when you get to Heaven, your spiritual gift that was behind the scenes on earth and not noticed here will stand out and be celebrated like we recognize and celebrate the cowbell in “Don’t Fear the Reaper”

 

-- in his book, Forgotten God, Francis Chan wrote, “The Spirit is intentional as He apportions these spiritual gifts to each person, according to His will and purposes. The most obvious and stated purpose of these manifestations is for the good and edification of the church. The Spirit desires to use us when our hearts are aligned with this vision, when we are filled with genuine love for the church, and when we desire to see the church grow in love for God and others.”

            -- so, each believer in this church has been given at least one spiritual gift for the express purpose of building up the church and accomplishing God’s will – some visible – some behind-the-scenes – but all valuable and needed in the body of Christ

 

– Paul says here in verse 7 that these gifts are given for the common good – that means that these gifts – these special abilities that the Spirit give us – aren’t to be hoarded – they aren’t to be kept to ourselves – they are to be used to for the good of everyone – to build up God’s church and work for Him in the world today

 

-- Paul speaks a lot here in 1 Corinthians 12 and over in Romans 12 about the body of Christ – about how every part is needed for the body to be whole and complete – and that includes the exercise of the individual spiritual gifts

-- based on Paul’s teachings and my own experiences, I believe that God brings to a church the people that He wants to be there and that He gives each particular church the spiritual gifts that it needs to become the church He wants it to be so that it can accomplish the work that He has set apart for it

-- when people leave a church, I suspect that a lot of the time God is moving them out of the church to put them in a new church where their spiritual gifts are needed or where they need to be to grow in their relationship with Him

-- and when God brings visitors or new people to a church, I believe He has called them to that congregation for a specific purpose – that they have a spiritual gift that is needed in that church

-- that’s why the very first thing I do when new people come to a church is to try to see what their spiritual gifts are because their presence and their gifts may be a sign that God is getting ready to accomplish a specific ministry or growth in that church

-- I also am a believer in the diversity of churches – although we are to be unified as one body under Christ, God has made our local communities of faith diverse – congregations differ in size, composition, location, etc. – God doesn’t want every church to be exactly the same – and He doesn’t want every church to do the exact same thing or have the exact same ministries -- God has a specific mission and a purpose for each of His churches on earth – and that requires the exercise of the spiritual gifts by the members present in that particular church

 

-- take a look around this room – look at the people who are here – everybody you are looking at has been given a specific spiritual gift to be used at this church for the common good

– you are not here by chance – you are here for a reason -- and you have your specific gift for a reason – God has a mission and a calling for Naylor Community Christian Church – and you and every person in this room is a vital part of that calling

-- we need your presence – we need your gift – and that’s why it is so important for us to not be ignorant or uniformed of the gifts of the Spirit like the church at Corinth was

 

III.  What are the Specific Spiritual Gifts?

            -- so, what are these spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us?

            -- in the Bible, there are two main passages where the gifts of the Spirit are listed for us

– the first is right here in 1 Corinthians 12 – look at verse 8

 

1 Corinthians 12:8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

 

            -- so, in these verses, we are given a list of nine spiritual gifts, given in no specific order – wisdom – knowledge – faith – healing – miracles – prophecy – discerning of Spirits – speaking in tongues or languages – and interpretation of tongues or languages

            -- some of those are visible gifts – healing – miracles – prophecy – speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues

            -- the rest are not as visible – they’re internal – behind-the-scenes – gifts – wisdom – knowledge – faith – discerning of Spirits – and sometimes prophecy can be a hidden gift

 

            -- hold your place here, and turn with me over to Romans 12:6, where we see another list of spiritual gifts – it includes prophesy, which we have already been given in 1 Corinthians 12:10, but the rest are new

-- look at Romans 12:6

 

Romans 12:6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

 

-- the additional gifts that are listed for us in these verses are serving – teaching – encouragement – giving – leading – and showing mercy

            -- that gives us a total of 15 individual gifts of the Spirit from these two passages

            -- and just so you know, depending on the Bible translation you use, you may see a couple more or less or you might see the spiritual gifts called something else

            -- so, let me caution you to not be dogmatic when it comes to spiritual gifts – I don’t think God’s intent was to list each and every spiritual gift and to say, “This is all I’m giving” – I think these are examples of ways that the Holy Spirit works in us and through us – and there are variations and nuances, especially when people are gifted in more than one area

            -- but this list of 15 gifts is a good starting point for us when we are trying to discern what spiritual gift or gifts that we might have

 

            -- so, how do you know what gift you have?

            -- there are several ways to go about discerning the particular spiritual gift that you have been given

 

– one way is to think about what aspects of ministry and participation in the life of the church you are most interested in – or that you know you are good at – that may be an indication that you are gifted in that area

            -- for instance, think about evangelism – all of us are called be evangelists and to share the good news of Christ with others – but evangelism is also considered a spiritual gift – a form of prophecy or faith – and there are some people who are gifted at it – it comes natural to them – and they see people responding to the gospel after they share their testimony or witness to them more than the rest of us

            -- I guarantee you that all of us can think of people like that – people who have been gifted in sharing their faith – that is a spiritual gift that is evident – and if you are one of those people, you should be able to tell that’s your spiritual gift because of the results you see when you exercise it

 

            -- other gifts are a little harder to discern – we may not know we have these particular gifts until it gets pointed out to us that we are showing signs of them or until we are in a particular situation where it comes out

            -- for instance, discerning the spirits – I believe I have some gifting in this area, but I had been a Christian for a long time before I became aware of this – it only came out when I was in a room with a person who was possessed by a demon – and I seemed to be the only one in that room that was aware of it

            -- so, sometimes your gifts are there, but they are hidden from you and the church until they are needed

            -- that’s why we need to try to discover where we are gifted and why we need other people to help us recognize God’s work in us and through us – it may take a special event or the church to discern a person’s spiritual gift

 

            -- another way that you can try to discover your spiritual gift is through a spiritual gift survey or inventory – it’s a questionnaire that you fill out and that will give you an idea of what your gift may be

            -- but know this -- there are many different inventories and surveys and tests you can find that have been created to help you discover your spiritual gift – and every one of them are man-made products -- they are man's attempt to categorize spiritual matters – and because of that, if you take a different test, you may see different results

            -- part of the reason for that is that different people interpret the gifts in different ways according to the ways they read the scriptures, so differences in the results will come up. 

-- Some tests limit the number of gifts to about 15 or so, while others will include other aspects of ministry in addition to the spiritual gifts listed in Scripture

– and that’s okay, because God does call us to minister outside of the area that we are specifically gifted in – it’s just that we will be more effective in our ministry when we focus on the areas that the Holy Spirit has gifted

            -- but overall, these tests are good in a general way to help us identify areas where we are strong and weak in ministry – but when you get your test results, don’t just take them as the gospel truth, but seek confirmation from the Holy Spirit and the church

 

            -- I have a spiritual gifts survey for each of you that I want you to take home with you – and here’s your homework -- I want you to fill out this survey and see what it says your spiritual gift or gifts are

– and then, I want you to come back and tell us what you found out – because not only do you need to know what your gift is – the church needs to know, as well -- remember, these gifts are given for the common good and not just for personal use or application

            -- and remember what I mentioned a moment ago – just because you have a particular spiritual gift, this doesn't mean that you can't work in other areas -- God encourages us to work for Him when and where we can – I am not gifted in evangelism, but God still calls all of us to share the good news of Christ with this world

-- the important thing about discovering what specific spiritual gift you have is that you can be sure that when you minister using that specific gift, you will see greater results than the average Christian will – so, you should be using your gift as much as possible

 

IV.  Closing: The Giving of the Gifts

            -- I know I’m running out of time, but let me close by sharing with you one more important point that Paul makes here in 1 Corinthians 12 and then again in Romans 12

            -- as we said, the Corinthians were a carnal group of people – they all wanted what they considered the better gifts – the visible gifts – the gifts that others could see and would respect them for

            -- so, Paul spends a lot of time trying to get them to understand that every gift is important, no matter whether it’s a visible one or not – and he tries to get them to understand that the gifts are given through the will of God – not by human decision or by human will or desire

 

            -- look at 1 Corinthians 12:11

 

1 Corinthians 12:11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

 

                        -- it is the Spirit who gives out these gifts to Christians – He distributes them to each person, as He determines

            -- same thing that Paul passed on to us in verse 4

 

1 Corinthians 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them

 

            -- the Spirit knows what gifts the church needs – He knows who we are – on the inside and the out – He knows our character, our intellect, our makeup, our natural talents – and He decides what gift would work best in our lives and in our church

            -- Paul makes that same point in Romans 12 – look back over there, and we’ll close there

 

            -- Romans 12:3

 

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

 

            -- once again, Paul makes the point that God is the one who distributes the gifts of the Spirit in accordance with the faith the He has given us

            -- verse 6 says we have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us

            -- it is not up to us – the gift we receive is determined and given by God

-- and so, we should not think more highly of ourselves than others just because we got a gift that is considered more visible or more important in the church – nor should we think that we are less in the church or that someone else is less in the church because they got a gift that is not so visible

            -- every member of the church has a different function and a different gift – and we are called to use our gifts to the best of our ability

            -- whatever it is that God has given us, we are to celebrate God’s grace in giving it to us and to exercise it for the common good – whether that’s prophesying, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, or any of the other gifts that are mentioned in Scripture

 

            -- for the next several weeks, we will be discussing these spiritual gifts – I’m not sure how much detail we will go into on each gift, but I will try to emphasize the gifts that God has put in this church, because this will be an indication of where He is leading us

            -- so, we’ll talk about what these gifts mean and how they are used in the church – and then we’ll back out and try to take a bigger picture and ask the questions, “What does God want us to do with the specific spiritual gifts that He has given? – Is He calling us to a specific ministry or is He just growing the church in maturity and knowledge?”

            -- and where we go as a church will be based on the answers that we receive from asking these questions of God

 

            -- so, remember your homework – fill out the spiritual gifts survey – see if you can discern what your spiritual gift or gifts are – let the church know – and then let’s come together to see where God is leading us

            -- sound good?

            -- then let’s pray – and make sure and pick up your spiritual gifts survey on the way out